By Sébastien Roblin, NBC News: "The U.S. is having trouble defending against low-flying drones and cruise missiles after years of the Pentagon focusing on longer-range threats."
(Military.com) Ground-hugging swarms of drones and cruise missiles that decimated Saudi oil production facilities this month did billions’ worth of damage and defeated U.S.-made air-defense systems, including Raytheon's Patriots. The attacks raise concerns, analysts say, about the efficacy of such defense systems against the threat.
Karen E. Young | Al-Monitor
While the recent attacks on two Saudi oil facilities will affect global oil prices, it is the US commitment in the region that is under attack.
By Raymond V. Mason, RealClearDefense: “A possible Iranian link to the attack on a Saudi oil installation this past weekend is the latest example of Iran’s continued ability to threaten American interests in the Middle East despite robust U.S. sanctions. While the administration is applying maximum economic pressure, sanctions alone will not force Iran to the table and are insufficient to address resulting Iranian retaliation."
Charles Lane, Washington Post
The Oil Price Increase and the Dollar
Desmond Lachman, AEI
Michael Rubin | Washington Examiner
The Iraq War surge
Stephen J. Hadley and Hal Brands | AEI video
By Eliot Pence, RealClearDefense: "The Abqaiq attacks this month raised many questions. Who did it? How did they do it? What did they do it with? One question was notably absent: Why couldn't Saudi Arabia stop it? The answer is not straightforward, nor is it necessarily clear that anything could have stopped it."