Crude: An Explicit Word
By: Aashi Mehrotra
[Photography Credit: Daniel Beltrá ]
Crude oil is wealth and power embodied—countries with natural ties to it are marked by power struggles, instability, and, as of right now, the risk or reality of U.S attacks.
During the time of Ancient Greece, olive oil was known as “liquid gold.” Its properties led to its use in every aspect of living: medicine, cosmetics, cooking, and lighting. Today, crude oil has taken its place. It keeps the world spinning and the red hands of the rich slick.
Instability
The world is a mere marketplace to those with wallets big enough. Iran and Venezuela are synonymous with a jug of oil for sale, regardless of their consent to the price; Ukraine is a store of energy and minerals to only be bought from during sales—sales forcibly implemented during periods of struggle. Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, Greenland, and the waters surrounding Latin America are either willing retailers or made to be willing. And as of the second year in the second administration under President Donald Trump, the United States of America has made its position as a buyer and even stricter bargainer very clear.
While previous administrations hid behind CIA operations, counter-terrorism, and the flouncy words of politics, Trump states plainly: where there is oil, there is American interest; where there is American interest, there is the threat of American force. Ukraine’s minerals were made a prerequisite for continued military aid. Greenland was targeted under “national security” rhetoric. Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico have also received pointed military warnings.
The second Trump administration speaks and acts shamelessly. They set an example with Venezuela. Following a U.S. naval blockade on oil tankers and CIA operations inside the country, Trump ordered Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3rd, 2026, which deployed over 150 military aircraft, captured President Nicolas Maduro, and flew him and his wife to New York on narco-terrorism charges. Hours later, Trump announced that U.S. oil companies would enter Venezuela and take control of its estimated $2.8 billion in reserves. “We’re going to have our very large U.S. oil companies go in, fix the badly broken infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude reserves; approximately 303 billion barrels.
A Second Try At Meddling
Iran has been one of America’s largest threats and failures since the CIA overthrew its democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 after he sought to nationalize the country’s British-controlled oil industry. What followed was decades of Western-aligned monarchy, the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and then forty years of sanctions, proxy conflict, and failed diplomacy.
Trump’s return to office in 2025 brought renewed pressure. In May, he announced that any country purchasing Iranian oil would face immediate secondary sanctions and be barred from U.S. markets. Last summer, he said that he “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. This week, he launched a full-scale attack under the premise of stopping the supposedly eradicated nuclear program.
The Cost of Crude
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury. The operation was a coordinated strike on Iranian nuclear sites, military command infrastructure, and political leadership. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed and then the slew of territorial strikes began at 10:00 a.m. local time, just as children across Iran were arriving at school.
The operation’s tacky, Hollywood name is nothing more than an irony to the death and suffering it has caused so far under the guise of civilian casualties and crossfire. At 10:45 a.m., a missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh all-girls elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan Province. The elementary’s geographical position, in proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, where 20-30% of the world’s oil flows through, made it a strategic target. Approximately 170 students were present, most between seven and twelve years old. The roof of the school collapsed. Iranian state media has reported 180 deaths at the school; the local prosecutor placed the number at 148; NPR’s initial count confirmed at least 53 students killed. The toll continued to rise as rescue workers sifted through rubble. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has now reported at least 555 total Iranian deaths since the operation began.
In response to Iran’s threats of setting fire to any ship that crosses the Strait, Trump has warned that if they do, the next strike will be “far worse.” While he has not yet admitted that the current slew of strikes is in any effort to cheapen oil for Americans or take advantage of Iran’s resources, his remarks last summer during a similar conflict with Iran echo his current motives. As PBS wrote at the time, “Trump urged stepped-up production as the White House sharpened its warnings to Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz… ‘To the Department of Energy: DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!’ Trump posted on social media. He added, ‘EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!’”
The Explicit Irony
“Crude” carries multiple meanings. In energy markets and geology, it refers to unrefined petroleum. In colloquial language, it means something vulgar or explicit. The death toll that follows this oil across the world is nothing short of explicit. The shameless extraction and operations by the U.S. to own more of it are explicit in the transparency of its motives.
The girls buried beneath the Shajareh Tayyebeh school did not die in a war about nuclear weapons. They died because their province sat beside the Strait of Hormuz. They died because their nation is marked by its ownership of crude oil. And as long as the global economy runs on fossil fuels, it also runs on blood.
Inside ‘Operation Absolute Resolve,’ the U.S. Effort to Capture Maduro – The New York Times
Trump wants U.S. oil companies in Venezuela. Here’s what to know
Why the US attacked Venezuela: Oil, sanctions and Maduro | Global Witness
Trump ‘not thrilled’ with Iran after latest talks on nuclear programme
555 killed in US-Israel attacks on Iran as school death toll hits 165 | Daily Sabah
At least 153 dead after reported strike on school, Iran says
Leave a comment