Semafor⁠85%

Red Sea attacks spur fears of expanding Middle East war ⁠97%

By Tom Chivers⁠87%

7/23/2026, 11:55:23 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Post Hoc (False Cause), Availability Heuristic, and Pessimism Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 40.5% saturation with 51 hits. Analysis detected 351 faulty-reasoning hits from 126 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 95% and a BS Rank of ⁠97% (709 of 21,198 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 96.70% of the article peer group.

Attacks on tankers in the Red Sea and US bases in the Gulf raised fears that the Middle East conflict could intensify. 
Two Saudi ships were struck by Houthi militants, after the Iran-backed group warned it would blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which about 10% of global trade passes. 
Washington has reportedly moved more troops and ordnance to the Gulf as President Donald Trump considers stepping up hostilities in the wake of Iranian attacks that killed three US soldiers. 
The accuracy and sophistication of Iranian strikes on CIA facilities raised questions about Russian involvement, Reuters reported. 
The fighting and pressure on shipping pushed Brent crude prices above $98 for the first time since early June. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 9.4%Semafor: 4.7%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 4.8%Semafor: 1.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 31.0%Tom Chivers: 7.7%Semafor: 5.4%Availability Heuristic31.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.0%Semafor: 1.4%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.0%Semafor: 1.0%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 3.5%Semafor: 2.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 17.5%Tom Chivers: 16.9%Semafor: 16.1%Framing Effect17.5%This article: 15.1%Tom Chivers: 1.0%Semafor: 0.8%Loss Aversion15.1%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.0%Semafor: 0.7%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.7%Semafor: 0.6%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 10.4%Semafor: 5.2%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 23.8%Tom Chivers: 7.2%Semafor: 4.0%Pessimism Bias23.8%This article: 40.5%Tom Chivers: 20.0%Semafor: 12.7%Negativity Bias40.5%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 1.3%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.0%Semafor: 0.8%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 1.5%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 22.2%Tom Chivers: 1.1%Semafor: 0.9%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias22.2%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.6%Semafor: 2.1%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 23.8%Tom Chivers: 3.2%Semafor: 3.2%Recency Bias23.8%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.7%Semafor: 0.8%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 13.5%Tom Chivers: 11.3%Semafor: 7.1%Appeal to Authority13.5%This article: 23.8%Tom Chivers: 3.9%Semafor: 2.6%False Dilemma23.8%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.7%Semafor: 2.1%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.6%Semafor: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 13.5%Tom Chivers: 16.2%Semafor: 8.1%Hasty Generalization13.5%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.4%Semafor: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.3%Semafor: 1.1%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 4.3%Semafor: 6.2%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.6%Semafor: 1.2%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 32.5%Tom Chivers: 11.3%Semafor: 5.0%Post Hoc (False Cause)32.5%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.1%Semafor: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.8%Semafor: 0.6%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 2.1%Semafor: 2.0%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 3.3%Semafor: 2.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.9%Semafor: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.0%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 13.5%Tom Chivers: 4.1%Semafor: 5.3%Unattributed Quote13.5%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 4.6%Semafor: 4.1%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 7.9%Tom Chivers: 14.2%Semafor: 9.2%Biased Writer Voice7.9%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.6%Semafor: 1.8%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 0.0%Semafor: 0.8%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Tom Chivers: 1.5%Semafor: 0.9%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

126 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker13%attributed speech109writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 0.0% coverageReuters • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Reuters

100%flagged-word coverage
17 attributed words100% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Unattributed Quote+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Reuters: 100.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice-9.2 ptsWriter: 9.2%Reuters: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.