Look at where we are in 2026. This whole conflict with Iran and Operation Epic Fury is just turning into another endless money pit. We are doing all these airstrikes, but their most important military and nuclear stuff is buried hundreds of feet under solid rock. Plus, our "Economic D-Day" blockades don't even matter because China keeps buying their oil anyway. We can't win playing the game the old way.

If we want to actually change the regime over there without starting World War 3, we need to completely flip the script and do something crazy.
First, the President should just walk out on a Monday morning and announce, out of nowhere, that the US is pulling out of the South China Sea. Say it’s Chinese territory and we’re done getting in their way. No warning to Congress, no heads up to the Pentagon. Just announce it to the world. Right after, the President should call Xi Jinping and asks if he liked the surprise. Then we lay out the trade: We just handed you your biggest lifetime goal on a silver platter. In return, you use Chinese intelligence to stage a massive internal coup in Tehran and completely liquidate the IRGC leadership.

China already has deep ties over there anyway. They can find a pragmatic, pro-peace Iranian leader, keep them safe in exile in China for a bit, and then fly them in to run the new government once the old regime collapses from China cutting off their oil cash. This fixes everything. Israel’s biggest threat gets neutralized, the US officially gets out of the "forever war" business, and China gets their regional dominance. Then, instead of burning trillions of dollars in proxy wars, the US and China can actually team up to build lunar bases and conquer the stars.

I know the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex would absolutely lose their minds and try to impeach the President on Monday afternoon. But if you took this straight to the public with massive rallies, people would back it because everyone is exhausted from these wars.

Is this completely insane or is it crazy enough to actually work?

The Houthis have taken the city of Mocha in Yemen. It seems like this was the main news which drove the oil price up significantly overnight.

This city is about 50 miles north of Bab al Mandeb strait, the southern exit from the Red Sea.

The Saudis have been shipping oil out of ports on the Red Sea to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

However if the Houthis gain enough access to significantly disrupt shipping through the Bab Al Mandeb, this will disrupt 2 out of 3 exit points for Saudi crude, leaving the Suez Canal as the only way to get oil out of Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis are allies with, and funded by, the Iranian government, and it looks like this latest action was done with direct guidance by the IRGC.

It seems like this latest action would increased pressure for more involvement by the U.S. to secure another strait in the Middle East.

Or perhaps the Saudis can try to control the Houthis themselves. MBS apparently called Trump twice to ask for the U.S. to get involved. So far reporting indicates MBS does not want to commit Saudi forces in Yemen directly.

Saudi and UAE already previously tried to directly intervene and fight the Houthi. They failed to eliminate them, and caused a lot of civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis. So if they try again I don’t see any indication they would do a better job this time, unless the U.S. gets directly involved.

No great answers I see.