On 15JAN2026, U.S. Joint Task Force Southern Spear personnel launched from USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) seized Motor Tanker Veronica in the Caribbean Sea. M/T Veronica is suspected of being a ‘ghost tanker’ hauling oil from Venezuela.
In a perfect example of why you should hold the high ground, during the recent border war between Thailand and Cambodia a Thai U.S. designed M48A5 took out four Cambodian Soviet designed T-55s (possibly Chinese built Type 59s) which were approaching in the valley below.
Japan is experiencing increased earthquake activity since 08DEC2025. The island nation was even placed under a mega-quake watch for the first time in the history of monitoring Japanese quakes.
On 10DEC2025, the U.S. Air Force told military personnel on Yokota Air Base to prepare what it calls a 72 Hour-Bag:
On 10JAN2026, U.S. Central Command (CentCom) and ‘partner forces’ conducted bombing raids on targets in Syria.
Photo released by CentCom, 10JAN2026.
A-10C Thunderbolt-2 ‘Tiger Sharks’ (home based on Moody Air Force Base, Georgia) take part in ongoing Operation Hawkeye Strike, video via CentCom:
Photo released by CentCom, 10JAN2026.
Idaho based (Mountain Home AFB) ‘Bold Tigers’ F-15E Strike Eagles in action. Interestingly, if you do a search for the 391st Fighter Squadron being deployed to Southwest Asia ‘google-A-I’ will actually tell you they are not deployed, however, these photos and videos don’t lie. I edited together videos released by CentCom:
Impact video:
On 19DEC2025, Operation Hawkeye Strike was ordered after two U.S. personnel and one U.S. interpreter contractor were killed in Syria, on 13DEC2025.
On 03JAN2026, Iranian news sources revealed details of a new naval weapon called the Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis class of catamaran corvette. They claim it is a Fast Attack Vessel (FAV) designed for rapid response and survivability in confined waters, specifically in the Persian Gulf.
Supposedly it is made of hardened aluminum, built in modular fashion, with intentionally redundant sections in the hope of reducing the effects of battle damage:
The Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis class is able to hit 38 knots per hour and is equipped with remote controlled drones, surface-to-surface missiles, several A-I controlled guns for anti-drone/aircraft use and a larger A-I controlled gun for in-close ship-to-ship combat:
The IRGC-Navy boasts that the A-I controlled guns respond to threats much faster than humans. They claim to have 1-hundred of these FAVs, several can be seen with additional missile/gun systems.
On 09JAN2026, personnel from USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) boarded Timor-Leste-flagged Motor/Tanker Olina (formerly Minerva M). According to a U.S. Navy press release, M/T Olina had been on a ‘ghost tanker’ hit list since 2021 when U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior issued an executive order against Olina/Minerva M and several other Timor-Leste-flagged vessels, as part of sanctions against Russia. Operation/Joint Task Force Southern Spear video via U.S. Southern Command, I added the pirate music:
New video and information released of the tracking and capture of oil tanker Marinera (formerly known as Motor/Vessel Bella-1); Marinera was shadowed by U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro (WMSL 755). The U.S. Navy reports that the crew of USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) intercepted the Marinera/Bella. According to Russian news sources, Russian officials thanked U.S. President Donald John Trump for releasing two Russian crewmembers. Videos were recorded on the 6th and 7th of January 2026. I edited together U.S. Coast Guard video and U.S. European Command video (via Honey Nixon), I also added the music:
On 07JAN2026, Russia confirmed the oil tanker Marinera (formerly known as M/V Bella-1) was taken by U.S. forces somewhere in the North Atlantic. The oil tanker had been sailing under a Russia permit since 24DEC2025, Russian officials say it was a temporary permit. U.S. War Department video showing U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro shadowing Marinera (Bella) before its capture:
On 07JAN2026, the M/T Sophia oil tanker was captured somewhere on the Caribbean Sea. The M/T Sophia was reportedly hauling oil to China from Venezuela. Operation Southern Spear video via U.S. Southern Command, I added the pirate music:
Just before sunset on 05JAN2026 (Iran time) the giant Kalleh Dairy operation blew up! Some sources report several explosions were heard. As I write this most of the factory is still on fire and evacuations for everybody within a one kilometer radius are taking place.
This Kalleh Dairy is located in Amol City, Amol County, Mazandaran province. Video via Fars News:
Speculators (which include some Iranian government officials) have suggested a construction/welding accident caused a fire which caused an explosion, or it was sabotage by protestors or even a military strike (it is part of the U.S./Israeli military policy to target such places as they are considered ‘dual use’ facilities).
When the Spanish explorers set foot in a place now called Venezuela they noticed that the natives were using a tarry substance, it seemed to be everywhere. Today, it’s known as heavy crude oil.
By 1928, U.S. oil companies had surpassed the operations of European oil companies in Venezuela. Despite a lot of naysayers claiming that nobody wants to control Venezuela’s expensive to refine heavy crude oil, the oil refineries in the United States were developed specifically to handle that type of oil. The Second World War, followed by the sales boom of personal automobiles in the U.S., drove the U.S. even deeper into developing the world’s largest heavy crude oil reserves, in Venezuela.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) oil map of Venezuela, dated May 1947 (note that this is several months before the official creation of the CIA).
C-SPAN has a promotional film about Creole Petroleum Corporation, showing the history of its development in Venezuela and what it argues are the many benefits to the oil-rich country, such as health care, education, and infrastructure: Click here to view People and Petroleum, the Story of Creole in Venezuela.
Oil & gas operations in Venezuela, as of 1954.
In 1950, Venezuela was the fourth most prosperous country in the world, with an average income of about $7-thousand-5-hundred with only Switzerland, New Zealand, and the U.S. doing better. Owned by Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) at the time, Creole dissolved when Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 1970s.
The United Kingdom’s Sky News explainer, posted on 11DEC2025, showing that the U.S. is after Venezuela’s heavy crude oil, then at the very end of report hints that Russia is next: