After Years of Depending on Others, the European Welfare State Faces Fuel Crisis, Flight Cancellations Amid Hormuz Closure
Europe is staring down a reality that its leaders should have seen coming from miles away.
The continent that once projected power across oceans now may not have enough jet fuel to keep planes in the air.
According to the Associated Press, the head of the International Energy Agency warned Thursday that Europe has “maybe 6 weeks or so (of) jet fuel left.”
This is the reality for a continent that has built its modern identity on relying on the generosity of others.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol did not sugar-coat the situation. He warned that if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked amid the Iran war, flight cancellations could begin “soon.”
Can you imagine a Europe where planes are not only grounded, but life is so disrupted that people stop driving? It’s not too difficult to picture, if you really think about it.
This is what happens when the nations that once shaped the world decide they would rather be comfortable than anything else.
What is even more tragic is that countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy have been anything but passive players in history.
They sent ships across the globe, they built empires, and imposed their will on continents.
Now, they can’t even ensure steady access to fuel.
Birol called the situation “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” and he is not talking about some faraway futuristic threat.
He is talking about right now. He is warning about flights being canceled because Europe may literally run out of jet fuel.
Europe brought this on itself. The Strait of Hormuz did not suddenly become an important shipping lane overnight.
It has always been a choke point and vulnerable because of where it sits. The Iranian regime has always had the ability to use it for leverage.
And yet, Europe — with all its institutions, alliances, and endless bureaucracies — somehow failed to prepare for this scenario.
Or worse, these welfare kings and queens chose not to prepare for anything, and assumed that the Americans would handle it.
They leaned on the fantasy that nothing would ever seriously disrupt their carefully managed comforts and supply lines.
Now that fantasy is collapsing.
Birol warned that allowing Iran’s “toll booth” system in the Strait, if enacted, could set a dangerous precedent for global shipping.
“If we change it once, it may be difficult to get it back,” he said.
This would be about the time you would expect European jets to start pummeling Iran into behaving, but they won’t.
Compare these countries to an ally like Israel.
Love her or hate her, Israel does not wait around hoping problems will solve themselves.
Israel recognizes threats and takes action. Do you think Israel would be caught this unprepared?
It’s impossible to imagine.
Europe, which has been protected for decades under the NATO umbrella funded by the U.S., is exposed.
What exactly has our investment in Europe’s comfort bought anyone on this side of the pond?
Apparently, just a collection of countries that can’t secure their own basic needs.
Europe is America’s spoiled adult child that is incapable of doing anything without begging Daddy for money and a roof over its head, all while constantly insulting him.
There has never been a better time to cut the cord, leave NATO, and let the entitled, liberal Europeans manage their own decline.
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