‘Locked and Loaded’: Trump Threatens Iran

Smoke billows from an attacked Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia on September 14, 2019. – Cruise missiles and drones caused major damage to the state-owned energy giant that supplies five percent of the world’s oil. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)After the massive attack on the Saudi’s national oil company Aramco, which the United States says Iran was behind, President Trump tweeted the U.S. was “locked and loaded” — presumably on Iranian targets. Does this mean war?

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!

What does “locked and loaded” mean? Amarco supplies five percent of the world’s oil.

According to Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, it means “several things,” adding:

“One thing it means is that America today under this president is far better prepared to handle these sorts of events because we’re now a net exporter of oil,” Short said. “This is not like the 1970s, the oil embargo or the 1990 … when Iraq invaded Kuwait … The United States is a net exporter producing 16 million barrels of oil a day and much of that has been because of the deregulatory agenda of this that has enabled so much of that.”

Listen to Clarion Project Editor Meira Svirsky and Arab Affairs Analyst and Shillman Fellow Ran Meir put this attack in context and answer the question: What if Trump backs down?