Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Semenov
[REGNUM] On May 6, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced a ceasefire between the Ansar Allah movement (Yemeni Houthis) and the United States.
The Omani Foreign Minister said the Sultanate had facilitated contacts and discussions on de-escalation prospects between the United States and relevant authorities in Sanaa. These efforts, the minister said, led to a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
“In the future, neither side will attack the other, including American ships, in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and uninterrupted international commercial shipping,” Albusaidi concluded.
The Donald Trump administration confirmed the ceasefire had been reached.
If we lift the veil from Trump's loud statements, where he called the Houthis' agreement to a ceasefire a "capitulation," the agreement, in essence, became Washington's admission of its inability to achieve a quick victory in Yemen and achieve the objectives of the operation. "SVO - two weeks to victory, Comrade!"
This time, the United States did not have a “small victorious war” that the White House could have credited as an asset.
Despite large-scale airstrikes that began in March 2025 (although the limited Operation Guardian of Prosperity itself has been underway since early 2024), the US military has failed to break Ansar Allah's resistance.
Efforts to prevent Houthi attacks on ships and to stop them from striking Israel have also been unsuccessful.
In the run-up to the deal, the Houthis have been shelling the Jewish state daily as part of their operation to support Gaza, most notably the successful launch of a ballistic missile that penetrated air defenses at Ben Gurion Airport on May 4.
By the way, Ansar Allah does not intend to stop attacks on Israel even after the ceasefire with the United States was signed: immediately after its announcement, Israeli air defense intercepted a drone.
The continuation of military actions by the American administration against the Houthis threatened to develop into a protracted and resource-intensive campaign.
Thus, the ceasefire, brokered by Oman, demonstrates the White House’s desire to avoid a repeat of the “forever wars” scenario from which Trump tried to withdraw the United States during his last presidential term by announcing the winding down of the Pentagon and allied operations in Afghanistan.
Of course, the American president can report that he has now achieved that the attacks on ships will cease. In fact, he has already rushed to do this.
But for most experts it is obvious that this result was not the result of the US military campaign, but rather the efforts of Oman and Iran to persuade Ansar Allah to refrain from its naval operations.
The Houthis, having retained their military potential, are capable of resuming the military campaign at any moment.
Thus, the ceasefire is intended only to mask the US strategic helplessness in the region.
It highlights the chaotic and thoughtless nature of the decisions of the new administration, which is pursuing unclear goals.
NO PLANNING, NO GOALS
According to The New York Times, in the first three weeks of the operation, the US spent $200 million in ammunition, destroying only a small part of Ansar Allah's military infrastructure.
The Houthis, using a network of underground tunnels built under former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which they strengthened and expanded, have preserved their missile arsenal and fleet of drones.
Have they, indeed?
The deployment of B-2 strategic bombers since April to destroy these tunnels and rock shelters has also failed to significantly weaken the Houthi forces.
This was despite the fact that the B-2s were using GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), the most powerful non-nuclear bombs in the US arsenal.
Which did not destroy the tunnels?
Given the cost of using the B-2 and its arsenal, as well as the AGM-158 JASSM and Tomahawk cruise missiles, the operation was one of the most expensive for the United States in recent memory.
As a result, American commanders expressed concern about the depletion of stockpiles of heavy munitions, which are critical to deterring China.
Moreover, the continuation of the campaign against the Houthis played into Iran's hands, since the American arsenals of the most powerful weapons were, in essence, being emptied to no purpose.
And if negotiations between Tehran and Washington fail, they could be needed to intimidate the Islamic Republic.
The operation became an example of how expensive technologies alone, without lengthy preparation and clear planning, do not guarantee a quick resolution of a crisis.
Unlike Israel's actions against Hezbollah, the Americans and Israelis did not know exactly where Yemeni weapons were being stored or where the enemy's command posts were located.
One wonders what the Israelis now know that they did not know before…
State-of-the-art technical intelligence tools could not replace the work of agents “on the ground,” which was used in the case of Hezbollah.
On the ground or listening via exploding pagers?
Therefore, most of the American strikes fell short, while Israel preferred to destroy purely civilian infrastructure in Yemen.
Moreover, the Houthis, despite the American attacks, continued to take effective countermeasures.
Back in April–May 2024, seven American MQ-9 Reaper UAVs (each costing $30 million) were shot down over Yemen.
The Americans also lost two F/A-18 Super Hornet carrier fighters during emergency maneuvers of the aircraft carrier Dwight Eisenhower to repel missile attacks.
The losses highlighted the US Navy's vulnerability to asymmetric threats and called into question the effectiveness of its "war at a distance" strategy.
That is why the Trump administration began to seriously consider a ground operation as the only means of neutralizing the Houthis.
THE FAILED INVASION
In April 2025, reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering supporting a UAE-sponsored offensive by local militants to seize the port of Hodeida, a key weapons supply point.
Private American contractors have already held consultations with Yemeni militias, but plans for an invasion have had to be abandoned for a number of reasons.
First of all, this operation did not fit into Trump’s “peacekeeping initiatives” and, on the contrary, promised another “eternal war” instead of ending at least one.
In addition, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which concluded a ceasefire with the Houthis back in 2022, categorically opposed such a scenario.
They had no intention of returning to confrontation or even providing their ports and airspace to the Americans for attacks on Yemen.
Trump's attempts to draw Egypt into his military campaign also ended in failure. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected such proposals as unacceptable, calling a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip "the best way to stop the Houthis."
Even the deployment of a limited American contingent on the Socotra archipelago, proposed by the UAE, was not implemented due to fears of an escalation of the conflict.
Trump therefore chose not to bet on direct intervention in the Yemeni conflict, focusing on containing Tehran by other means and concluding a new “nuclear deal” with it.
It is clear that the strategy of intimidating Iran through the campaign in Yemen has not worked and, on the contrary, its completion may bring the agreement closer.
Moreover, ahead of his visit to the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, scheduled for May 16, Trump would like to appear as an envoy of peace, not war.
This is more in line with its original positioning and the expectations of its Arab Middle Eastern partners.
A TRUSTED BROKER
Oman, traditionally a neutral broker in the Middle East, played a key role in brokering the truce, focusing on achieving a specific goal: ending attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
It is important to note that the negotiations did not include the issue of Houthi attacks on Israel. Thus, Omani diplomacy succeeded in de-escalating the maritime conflict by deliberately leaving the issue of support for Palestine outside the agreement.
As Gulf State Analytics expert Giorgio Cafiero explained : "Oman acted strictly within the mandate: to stop a threat to shipping that affected the global economy. The Houthis' policy towards Israel is a separate issue, linked to their ideology and regional alliances . "
This approach allowed Oman to maintain the trust of all parties by avoiding discussion of the Houthis' support for Gaza, a "red line" for them.
THE HOUTHIS AND THE "NUCLEAR DEAL"
It is obvious that the agreement is situational and does not resolve the underlying contradictions. Nevertheless, it can be considered as a first step towards a comprehensive settlement.
An end to attacks on ships should reduce tensions and create a platform for broader agreements, from a Gaza deal to resuming the stalled nuclear dialogue with Iran.
It is obvious that Oman, which has influence on the Houthis, and even more so their ally Iran, also exerted the necessary pressure on the leadership of Ansar Allah so that it agreed to accept this deal with the United States.
The agreement allowed Trump to emerge without losses from the difficult situation he had gotten himself into.
Oman now hopes that the US administration will be more accommodating and return to the negotiating table with Iran in a positive mood, in which Muscat is also acting as a mediator.
The easing of tensions in Yemen could also be seen as a goodwill gesture to unblock $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for limiting military supplies to the Houthis.
Thus, the ceasefire in the Red Sea is a tactical pause, not a strategic breakthrough. Oman was able to localize the crisis, but the players retain all the possibilities for escalation.
This is especially true for Israel, which feels its interests have been ignored by Trump and is now ready to take on the Houthis on its own, provoking them to resume naval attacks that could lead to the collapse of the agreement.
#2
^^ Facebook · Slavic Folklore
260+ reactions · 6 months ago
Russians had a curious (and slimy) way of keeping milk fresh: by dropping live brown toads straight into the milk bucket!
The Russian brown toad, also known as the cane toad, is not a native species to Russia but rather to the Amazon basin in South America and north to the lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. It was introduced into Florida to control agricultural pests in sugar cane in the 1930s and 40s, and it is not commonly associated with Russia. However, the toad poison mentioned in the context of Alexander Subbotin's death refers to a poisonous substance secreted by toads, which can be highly toxic. The poison glands behind the eyes of toads can secrete bufotoxin, a mixture of toxic steroid lactones and substituted tryptamines, which can be dangerous to animals and humans if ingested or handled improperly.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/09/2025 6:58 Comments ||
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#5
We need to make a distinction btwn 'Forever Wars' with boots on the ground, and bombing the hell out of someone.
I dont consider the latter a War. People who shoot at us, Americans, especially civilians, should be rightfully removed from the planet with extreme prejudice.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The FSB has declassified archival documents on the liquidation of the underground episcopate of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church in the Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk) region of the Ukrainian SSR in the post-war years. TASS reported this on May 8.
According to the materials, the clergy of this episcopate carried out anti-Soviet propaganda, collaborated with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN is an extremist organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) and expected that Western countries would start a war with the USSR.
Declassified documents show that in 1949, state security agencies arrested a group of Uniate priests led by the former abbot of the monastery of the "Vasiliyan" order, Vladimir Balaguruk, who was hiding under the guise of a worker. Other underground priests and those who helped them were also detained.
“During the arrest of Balagurak, Bakhtalovsky, Valnitsky and other members of the illegal episcopate, a large quantity of anti-Soviet nationalist literature, a significant amount of gold currency of American, Austrian and Russian coinage, as well as a large quantity of gold and other valuables were discovered and confiscated,” the document says.
Balaguruk headed the underground church structure from 1945. He held secret services and collected written oaths of allegiance to the Vatican. The community maintained contact with the West through Ukrainian nationalist channels. A number of members of the episcopate supported the Nazis during the occupation.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the FSB had previously published a document on the Greek Catholic Church's ties to the OUN underground in the western regions of Ukraine. A significant number of priests helped the nationalist gangs, including sheltering their leaders. Law enforcement officers uncovered an underground network and arrested 134 Uniates, including 80 priests, for subversive activities.
Not something you see everyday! The Museum’s A6M3 Model 32 Zero is filmed here above the Puget Sound as part of the ongoing flying program that followed its successful first flight on May 5, 2025. It has been more than 80 years since this airplane was last flown! 🎥 Gordon Page pic.twitter.com/QeeOmmnQCO
— Military Aviation Museum (@AvMuseumVB) May 8, 2025
[PJ] Last week, I wrote about how Trump’s pick of Mike Waltz for UN ambassador was the ultimate trolling of the left. I even suggested that Trump could up the ante by nominating Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to replace Waltz. Flynn, a seasoned intel veteran, was one of the earliest and most high-profile victims of the Democrats’ Russia hoax. Whether Trump goes that route remains to be seen, but it would be a power play.
And it looks like Flynn is on board.
During an interview on "The Benny Show," with Benny Johnson, Flynn declared he’s prepared to return to the role of national security advisor under President Trump—if called upon.
Flynn, who briefly held the post at the start of Trump’s first term before being railroaded by the Deep State, left little doubt about his willingness to serve again.
"I am ready to serve," Flynn said, referencing a post he made on social media that stirred speculation about his return. "The first question—yes. The second question—no," he added, confirming that while he hasn’t been contacted yet by Trump directly, his hat is firmly in the ring.
"I’ve been watching everything, listening, and observing intensely," Flynn explained. "We are in a place where we cannot afford to have, as Trump likes to say, unforced errors. We cannot afford to drop a glass ball right now."
Flynn emphasized that despite not being in government anymore, he has never stopped serving the country. "I’m serving now, Benny. I serve in just a different way... I’ve been engaging people in government. I’m still out doing stuff," he said. "That’s my message to every American: How are you serving this country?"
#1
for you pro-Flynn types, please look up "Flynn Intel Group" which Flynn founded with his pal Stanley McChrystal
Did this w/o registering under Foreign Agent Registration Act.
Granted that FARA is routinely violated.
Granted that he registered retroactively.
Granted that he didn't make that much money (certainly less than Hunter Biden).
Granted that prior to this he served honorably.
Still it smells.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/09/2025 12:02 Comments ||
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#2
FARA would not apply to 'walk in' reporting or clandestine agents of the Federal Gov.
#5
Subtle B, but not a lot! I get that in DC you can hardly take a step without getting stuff on your shoe, but the Turkish connection is troubling on several levels. Still, he has a lot of payback to offload and that would be delicious to watch!
[YouTube] Renowned American scholar Christine Fair breaks down why Pakistan’s military establishment fears India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Christine Fair offers an unfiltered analysis of Doval’s strategic doctrine, his role in redefining India’s covert and diplomatic stance, and how Pakistan is struggling to counter his maneuvers. One hour speech, so find a comfortable spot, dear Reader.
Posted by: 3dc ||
05/09/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[47 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
