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Page F2From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 16 September 2026
Washington answers a world of fuel riots with a $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel
As it ran on the front
The filing starts September 8, when Saudi Arabia promised to retaliate after Houthi airstrikes wounded at least 73 civilians and hit its energy infrastructure. The promise held three days. On Friday the 11th, the kingdom shuttered the East-West Pipeline — the route built to move oil around the Strait of Hormuz — calling it a precaution after another round of attacks. That same Friday, AAA logged diesel at $6.06 a gallon, up 14 percent in a month and 64 percent in a year. Two days before that, the tracker kept by Brown University's Watson School put the consumer bill for the Iran war above $101 billion, or roughly $776 a household, the same week oil crossed $100 a barrel for the first time since July.
Run the ledger back further and it keeps balancing. On Monday, August 31, AAA clocked the spot price at $4.08 a gallon; the month around it closed with gas above $4 a gallon every day, a first for the record. Six days before that, the Conference Board had already logged consumer confidence at its lowest point since January — the month before the war began.…
…(cont) Wednesday the ledger got a new line. The Houthis say they downed a Saudi fighter jet, hours after a Saudi-led coalition accused them of aiming a drone at Mecca — a claim the Houthis deny. Saudi Arabia is calling the Mecca accusation a red line. The New York Post reports the fighting has "slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle." The same day, the Times reports oil could hit its highest levels in months with the pipeline still down, and that the fuel riots already running from Indonesia to Guatemala to Syria are spreading, not settling.
Washington's answer to six months of this ledger — the $101 billion, the $6 diesel, the blackouts — arrived the same week as a new entry of its own: a $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel, approved the day the riot story ran.
The receipts don't ask who's covering the difference at the pump. They just have to be read in order, hon.
“They're telling you the war overseas jacked your gas bill up by $776 a household, and Washington's fix is $2.8 billion more in guns going the other way. That ain't foreign policy, that's a subscription you didn't sign up for where you pay and somebody else ships. Diesel's at six bucks a gallon and somebody just got paid.”
“CHIP_UNUSED”
The receipts
The Iran-backed militia in Yemen made its claim hours after a Saudi-led military coalition accused it of firing a drone near the Muslim holy city. The Houthis denied doing so.
From Indonesia to Guatemala to Syria, shortages and price increases are leading to protests and blackouts.
The price of diesel fuel hit another record high on Friday, thanks in large part to President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran. New data released by the American Automobile Association showed the average price of diesel in the US increasing to $6.06, a 14% increase over the average price one month ago and a 64% increase from the…
The attacks on Saudi Arabia have shocked global energy markets roiled by the six-month US-Iran war, which has slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle.
Saudi Arabia accused Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels overnight of trying to attack Islam's holiest city, prompting condemnation from countries in the region but no sign of military support.
Estimates vary on how long it could take before a crucial pipeline is repaired, but a prolonged shutdown could push oil prices to their highest levels in months.
· Saudi Arabia promises response to Houthi attacks from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Saudi Arabia shutters key pipeline bypassing Strait of Hormuz following Houthi offensive from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Consumer Confidence Hits Lowest Level in Months as US Faces 'Trump's Reckless Tariffs and War With Iran' from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026
· Consumer Burden of Trump Iran War Exceeds $100 Billion as Oil Prices Pass $100 a Barrel from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.