Moon of Alabama
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Where Barflies Get Together

This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings.

Unofficial channel. Questions and comments: direct message.
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Ukraine Open Thread 2026-093

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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War On Iran: – Saudis Pulled Break On Trump’s Escalation

Yesterday President Trump abandoned his laughable “Project Freedom” just five hours after his two lieutenants, Warcrime Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had been sent out to promote it: The president had pulled the rug out from underneath his top team. Even his closest confidants could not understand why. “So f—–g embarrassing,” Read more...
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War On Iran: – Destroyer Battle – Iran Can Sustain – Losers Hold Cards

The current situation around the Strait of Hormuz is vague. We currently have what Chas Freeman calls (vid) a “ceasefire with Israeli characteristics”. Both sides continue to fight but try to avoid a larger escalation. Yesterday the U.S. stopped an empty Iranian tanker coming from the Indian Ocean which was heading towards an Iranian port. Read more...
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War On Iran: – Short takes …

Some short takes … 1. On Wednesday President Trump gave Iran 48 hours to respond to some one page doodle of U.S. wishes for a temporary peace agreement. So far Iran has ignored it. I believe is right to do so. There is no hope yet that the U.S. will agree to even the smallest Read more...
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The MoA Week In Review – OT 2026-094

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama: May 4 – War On Iran: – How Trump’s “Project Freedom” Has Failed May 5 – War On Iran: – “Project Freedom” A One-Off Stunt – Tightening UAE Blockade – China Counters U.S. Sanctions May 6 – War On Iran: – Trump Discards “Project Freedom” – Another Oil Read more...
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Ukraine Open Thread 2026-095

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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Iran Open Thread 2026-096

News & views related to the war on Iran …
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War On Iran: – Saudis Blame Israel – Neocon Grandee Concedes Defeat

Two remarkable pieces appeared during the last days. They are related to each other as both authors are seasoned right-wing strategist who were deeply involved with the George W. Bush administration and its war on Iraq. The first piece is by Turki Al-Faisal: He is a grandson of Saudi Arabia’s founder King Abdulaziz and son Read more...
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Trump Goes To China

This week U.S. President Donald Trump is going to China. His larger plan had been to take Venezuela, Iran and their oil before pressing China, via tariffs and energy restrictions, to concede to U.S. hegemony. That plan has failed. Trump has lost two wars. His tariff schemes ended in retreat after China restricted the export Read more...
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War On Iran: – U.S. Experiencing Price Increases

The stalemate in the War of Iran is characterized by bets on each side that the enemy side will soon incur unsustainable economic problems. After several wars and decades of sanctions Iran is well versed in how to sustain under economic pressure. Its people and government know of the larger picture. Price fluctuations are inconveniences Read more...
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Open (Not Ukraine or Iran) Thread 2026-097

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Iran …
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Ukraine Open Thread 2026-098

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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Iran Open Thread 2026-099

News & views related to the war on Iran …
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Trump Leaves China With Little In Hand

President Trump’s visit to China has ended. I had predicted that there would be no tangible outcome from that trip: Trump is coming to Beijing with his cap in his hand. He, as usual, will try to bluff a way to ‘victory’. He will proceed as if the U.S. were in a great position. The Read more...
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Who’s Fortune Is Trump Talking About?

Much of Trump’s wars seem to be about shuffling money from the bottom to the top. Trump says US could ‘easily’ take Strait of Hormuz, ‘make a fortune’ over oil exports – NY Post, Apr 3 2026 “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A Read more...
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The MoA Week In Review – OT 2026-100

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama: May 11 – War On Iran: – Saudis Blame Israel – Neocon Grandee Concedes Defeat Related: – UAE Tried in Vain to Get Saudis to Partner on Iran Response (archived) – Bloomberg – India’s quasi-alliance with Israel and UAE won’t have happy ending – Indian Punchline – Trump’s Read more...
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Ukraine Open Thread 2026-101

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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Iran Open Thread 2026-102

News & views related to the war on Iran …
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War On Iran: – Trump’s Stock Investments May Hold Him Back

At Naked Capitalism Yves Smith has held for a while that only ‘the markets’ can prevent U.S. President Donald Trump from further attacks on Iran. ‘The markets’ here are for one the bond market where any slump would mean lower treasuries, higher interest rates and problems for the U.S. to finance its debt. It is Read more...
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U.S. And China Dismiss British Disinformation

Next to all the AI slop appearing every minute there are still the classic disinformation items channeled through the main stream press. Today’s Financial Times presented this ‘scoop’: Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Putin might ‘regret’ invasion of Ukraine (archived) Xi Jinping told Donald Trump during their talks last week that Russian President Vladimir Read more...
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