Mine was a little more... relax: Why doesn't some one just go retrieve the oil? I suppose towing the ship away is a little risky, but reloading the oil should be do able.

Just tell the Saudis that while we might not approve of their war in Yemen, they can go get the oil and sell it at regular market price.

You'd be risking an armed response from the Houthis. They have missiles, drones, and heavy munitions. Would only take one of these to get through and we'd be in exactly the kind of situation we're trying to avoid.

The article mentions possible mines around the ship.

That said I am curious if anyone would buy the oil if someone went there with a tug boat and fetched the ship.

I don't think that's an option. The ship has been moored for 34 years, and hasn't been maintained well during that time.

״Shit like this” has led to the world being the most liberal, prosperous and safe it has ever been.

Nah, not really.

The problem with colonial forces installing democracy in 3rd world countries is that eventually they leave, and then all the old problems come back, AND the native liberal and progressive movements are completely compromised as traitors.

ISIS exists because of USA (and other countries - including my own) involvement in the middle east.

No no no, I'm not for creating democracy, just for enabling it for those who are ready and willing. Houthis are Iranian proxies which need to be dealt with militarily before they create an environmental disaster (this tanker or bombing Aramco facilities in Saudi Arabia or attacking passing tankers will do that). You won't hear me advocating for democracy anywhere in the Middle East.

Yeah, at least parts of the world. And referring to "shit like this", some of it (e.g. the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after WW2) has been more successful, but most of it less (e.g. Afghanistan, where the more or less liberal regime which brought some prosperity, although only to a few, collapsed 10 minutes after the US withdrawal, or Iraq, or Vietnam...).

Yeah, my point is that you cannot militarily intervene and think you are done. Hell, even 20 years in Afghanistan wasn’t enough. Staying another 20-40 might have started to make a difference when the old guard starts dying off or grows too old to fight.

Britain was in India for 150 years and it was barely enough.