If you’ve been following the news recently, you could be excused for thinking that the blockade in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Ansar Allah — commonly known as “the Houthis” — has been defeated. In recent months, we’ve heard barely a squeak from foreign policy “experts” about the insurgency. Does this mean the matter has been taken care of? Not quite.
Today, the blockade is stronger than ever, and the American military has given up on trying to lift it. Just a fortnight ago, faced with a deterrent bolstered by zero US aircraft carriers, the Houthis managed to board a Greek-flagged oil tanker, plant some explosives, and chant “Death to America! Death to Israel!” as the vessel went up in flames. Last week, the Pentagon quietly admitted that the tanker is still on fire and now appears to be leaking oil.
This should probably be huge news: one of the most important trade routes in the world is now blocked by a rag-tag group of militants, and the US Navy has thrown its hands up in defeat and sailed away. And yet, we just don’t want to talk about it.
The reason for this seems to be fairly straightforward: more than just sharing a sense of growing embarrassment, we no longer know how to talk about what’s going on. After all, America’s Navy is supposed to be the most powerful Navy in the world. As every war film of the past two decades has insisted on reminding us, all it takes is a single aircraft carrier to force a developing nation to its knees. America might not be great at “nation-building”, but boy does it know how to bomb things until all resistance stops.
Of course, Yemen is where these narratives collide with reality. Unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, the attempts to unblock the Suez do not really represent some sort of wasteful “war of choice”, one that we can simply walk away from when we grow bored. If the blockade holds, it will mean at least two things. First, the entire world will receive dramatic evidence of the growing military and political impotence of the West, which will have real-world consequences for Western diplomacy in regions like the Pacific. Second, and possibly more importantly, the Suez Canal is one of the most important trade routes in the world, and forcing container ships to go around it will manifest itself in supply crunches and structural inflation, particularly for European economies. Europe is already contending with the dual disease of anaemic growth and an energy crisis; a blockade of a major trade route is the opposite of what we need.
This is, however, exactly what has happened, and this time around, the US clearly doesn’t know what to do. In December last year, the US Navy and US Central Command first launched Operation Prosperity Guardian, which was supposed to safeguard shipping traffic against Houthi missile strikes. In January, when this mission began faltering, it launched Operation Poseidon Archer, designed to bomb the Houthis into submission and deter them from further attacks on trade. The result has been underwhelming in the extreme: months later, Yemeni casualties have amounted to “at least” 22 dead, while the US has lost several expensive MQ-9 reaper drones to Houthi anti-air missiles and two Navy SEALs who drowned while trying to impound a shipment of rocket components bound for Yemen.
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SubscribeThe situation would be very different in the case of a Taiwan blockade, since the Taiwanese would be on the US side, and the US have bases very nearby.
Part of the problem with the Red Sea is that it’s really Europe that is very dependent upon the Suez route staying open. America’s trade with Asia can come over the Pacific. I have sympathy with the US view that Europe needs to take its own security far more seriously. The US is devoting assets to a problem that if Europe is to be a proper security partner, Europe should be shouldering a far greater burden of.
More than that, Egypt owns the Suez and benefits from the trade. Coincidentally there is a Gaza thing happening right now and Egyptian support for a resolution is important. Deal isn’t done yet.
Quite correct. Egypt can’t afford to stand by. Nor can the Saudis if they want to hold onto any prestige.
America is certainly beginning to look like a nation without direction or drive, but I agree with you, why is it left to America (if that’s true) to solve these problems. Surely the EU has the resources.
America is a plutocracy in which the wealthy are not prepared to die for their country. The end of Rome, from about 350AD saw the massive decline in the Equites and Patrician classes prepared to die on the frontiers. In WW1, 20% of the British aristocracy were killed, the highest percentage of any class. America has shown that it is unwilling to learn the skills including understanding the mindset , to win wars in foreign parts. The Radfan campaign in late 1960s was very nasty. Aden needed soldiers with the fitness, skill, courage and ruthlessness of the SAS, Parachute Regiment and Argylls
Col Mad Mike Mitchell still scared the Yemenis in the late 1980s.
div > p:nth-of-type(2) > a”>Colin Mitchell – Wikipedia
div > p:nth-of-type(4) > a”>Peter Frederick Walter | ParaData
If the USA cannot produce leaders of the calibre of Mitchell and Walter they will not win wars in the Third world. The USA also needs leaders like Teddy Roosevelt who are prepared to support the soldiers.
Large parts of the Third World contain nasty people who invariably are the rulers. Killing torture and rape are means to obtaining and keeping power: the way politicians use advertising in the West.
I’m sure you could get ruthless effective commanders if you put enough effort into encouraging them. The fundamental nature of human beings hasn’t changed after all. But this is ultimately is a massive political will isn’t it?. Which is simply lacking in the West in the political, military AND civilian areas. We are not going to invade Yemen, for many reasons, the foremost of which are the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascoes.
The modern army is unwilling to undergo the training taught by LT Col Peter Walker ex SAS to achieve the fitness and skill apart from Special Forces .
I worked with someone who had fought in the Radfan in the late 1960s. He said one always left the last bullet for oneself because if caught alive, one was castrated, skinned alive and then beheaded. The Yemenis and NE Africans have special knives for skinning people alive , usually done by the women.
The Western World is run by people who refuse to accept how nasty some people are , they cannot even vanquish organised crime in southern Italy.
Surely everyone knows by now that the EU is not a military power, and moreover has almost no chance of becoming one in the medium, let alone the short term.
The US interest is that it needs to support its allies; Israel and Egypt, or else seriously lose face and the rest of its allies to Russia, China and Iran who know how to get things done.
‘Not so sure that the concept of ‘losing face’ applies to the USA, when all that matters is that America and its interests are covered. Europe doesn’t seem to be high on the list at the moment.
I’m afraid you are going to see America increasingly washing its hands of the Middle East: economics usually trumps politics and America is now largely self-sufficient in energy. So stupid and cowardly of the West to have relied on Big Brother to defend them especially when they vilify the defender. America is always damned if it does (Iraq) and damned if it doesn’t (Syria). Trump called Europe’s bluff by talking about finance of Nato.
True but that is the price of being the leader of the West. Britain had that responsibility from 1815 to 1942, when it was bankrupt.
Large numbers of countries and people are envious of the power of the USA, including many Europeans. The alliance of Russia, Hamas, Iran, China and N Korea wish to dominate the World which if it occurs is the end of Western civilisation and democracy in the World. Large numbers of non democratic countries who are envious of the USA would like to see them receive a beating but they are blind to the fact that a World dominated by RHICNK will be far worse for them. Cut one’s nose off to spit one’s face applies to many countries in their relation to the USA. Unless counties kow tow to RHICNK they will be punished severely. Vassals are expected to pay tribute and bow before the Emperor who will be the General Secretary of the Chinese CP and Chairmen of the Central Military Commission..
What can be done.
NATO countries to pay 2.5% of GDP and undertake the hard training for war undertaken by Lt Col Peter Walter ex SAS and Parachute Regiment. The USA to learn how other countries perceive the World; for the plutocracy to be willing to fight and die for the nation;create an armed forces with leaders of the mindset of Mitchell and Walter. The Armed forces should not be treated as a job creation scheme and a source of revenue for companies. Do not lecture countries; accept democracy cannot be imposed and intervene when only asked. Remember Teddy Roosevelt’s “walk softly and carry a big stick” and be prepared to use it against nasty people. ,
Hamas are a brutal nasty anti-semitic regime with absolutely nothing to offer their population. However they are a tiny bands in an extremely poor country, and not going to rule the world.
No but they are supported by Iran who now fund the Houthis. There Lebanese Shia in S America which is why Iran was able to bomb the Jewish centre in Buenos Aires.
AMIA bombing – Wikipedia
Large Shia communities in Kuwait, Bahrain and oil fields of Saudi Arabia in Dhahran have the potential to start conflict.
You miss the point. Europe’s military assets and approach are similar to the US, just less well endowned. The issue isn’t who takes the lead, but that the West is ill suited to the task full stop. The US is leaking soft power and leadership by the moment. Even the Saudis have joined BRICS. It is being left with Western Europe and a handful of other vassals like the ex Anglo-Saxon colonies and Japan etc. This will translate into loss of economic hegemony which in turn will rain disaster as it is only the exorbitant privilege of the dollar which has permitted the US to force the rest of the world to finance it.
I do wish people make it your point could use less absurdly emotive language. Japan is not a vassal state, and for that matter neither is the UK. Plus the states that you refer to are actually form major part of the world’s economy. China does too but Russia doesn’t.
The Houthis, just like Hezbollah, Hamas and their Iranian clerical backers have fallen into a trap of their on making and are on a hiding to nothing. With Saudi money, Israeli expertise, US political and military muscle and now world opinion against them it’s just a matter of time before it springs shut. Hopefully, for the sake of the long suffering innocents of the Middle East it will be over as quickly as possible.
I have literally no idea what you mean by this. What trap? What will happen when the “trap” springs shut? Who do you see as being the combatants? I’m totally flummoxed. You may have an entirely valid point but without further explanation I am at a loss to identify it.
I think the fact is that if they keep pushing it and once it becomes a major issue for everyone involved then they have opened themselves up for a major concerted military offensive and they will hav eno one to back them up-lets see.
What you mean us lot,the West send in The Army,led by General Fred Karno. That one.
How do you know world opinion is against the Houthis. Have you canvased thousands of people. I admire them standing up to the hollow tiger.
Perhaps there is a pleasure in seeing paper tigers shown up, but I don’t know what is admirable about attacking unarmed ships, hurting people, and destroying the trade goods of others. People’s lives, property, and livelihood are being damaged, nothing romantic about that.
Houthis recently legalized slavery in the areas of Yemen they control.
Like many pirates, they’re also enthusiastic slavers, doing a brisk trade in Ethiopian women.
Sorry, you admire the Houthis? Did you know they’re bringing slavery back to Yemen? And crucifying gay people? Are you actually ok?
‘Houthis Restore Slavery in Yemen’: ‘Yemeni activists revealed that since the coup, the Houthis sought to segregate Yemeni society into rulers and subjects, and masters and slaves… based on color, race and ancestry, he said on condition of anonymity.’
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1810456/exclusive-houthis-restore-slavery-yemen
I didn’t know that but the whole world is going back and back and back . We may have tech but our society is going medieval. And feudal. And I mean.here in Britain.
Jane you’re a bit of an incoherent nutter really aren’t you? I might not like Kier Starmer very much but I don’t think he’s yet crucifying gay people. Tell you what why don’t you toddle off and find a country more to your taste, for example Yemen..
You “admire” them attacking neutral shipping, that we all in fact rely on? and by the way injuring and killing in innocent sailors?
Does this imaginative scenario involve someone changing in a phone box and coming out with his underpants on the outside?
Keir Starmer looks like the Clark Kent persona..,..
A very important point that no one else is making. Why the hell should America get involved in a dispute that, if what you claim is correct, doesn’t really affect them economically. The typical Westerner’s attitude to America is hypocritical: very reluctant to shoulder the burden for Nato, Western Europe has up to now counted on America picking up the bill for Nato while simultaneously castigating America as a bully and an aggressor world-wide. America is no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil and is not directly in Russia’s sights, so why should she defend the resentful and ungrateful West?
Because the West aren’t her allies, but her vassals
Maybe so, but the points made by the author are very relevant. The US seems unable to deal with the Houthis because its famed military is like the Maginot Line in 1940, out of date and irrelevant. The fact that the US does not have the same vested interest as Europe in keeping the Suez Canal open is a fair point but the loss of prestige cancels that out and will have been noticed by every Defence Ministry in the world,
I think this needs more nuance. If there is a major fleet action the US Navy would be very capable, but it is ill equipped to deal with a naval insurgency war, which is much more possible now with drones, and proliferation of missile technology. The challenge is exasperated when the US refuses to cut off the Houthi’s Iranian weapon supplier. This is practically a naval analogue to Afghanistan insurgency warfare where the Taliban had a secure base in Pakistan. This shows as much a failure of will as it does resources.
America have bases nearby, China has it’s whole industrial might nearby.
And if President Trump is re elected in November I think you can be assured that he will insist on Europe bearing a greater share of the burden in regards to its security. A Harris Presidency given her inexperience will be in effect an Obama fourth term as even now it seems that his team is running the White House.
I could agree with some of the points you make but you basically evade the main issue which is that the US tried to combat the Houthis and failed. I would say this indicates that it has very little chance of defending Taiwan against a determined blockade.
Iran is the problem. The Houthis are small and mobile, but they have zero capability to generate meaningful revenue and even they need money. They rely on Iran for that. The U.S. needs to pressure Iran.
But… back to the issue highlighted by prior comments: is it the US that “needs” to do anything, when it’s Europe that bears the brunt of the Houti (Iran-backed) blockade?
The author gets this absolutely right in terms of economic pain for Europe, and also as a reflection of the end if US hegemony.
What (further) pressure do you suggest the US should seek to exert on Iran? It’s prefectly clear the EU / Europe are incapable of doing so, hence we hear nothing about it in the media whilst the Labour government takes the winter fuel allowance away from all pensioners*, a direct consequence of our economic decline and fuel poverty.
*A means-tested approach would’ve been far more sensible and politically expedient – may still happen, but stupid Starmer and his sidekick Reeves didn’t think it through
Fair comment. The US can freeze Iranian assets and restrict their oil production. That seemed to work under the Trump administration.
It hasn’t worked with Russia…it won’t work with Iran…
You seem completely detached from reality.
Iran has been under almost continuous US sanctions since 1979. Anyone who’s been there (I have) can tell you the effect they’ve had.
“Iran has been under almost continuous US sanctions since 1979.”
And yet nothing’s changed.
Yes it has.
The rest of the world has moved on and got richer. Iran’s stuck in the slow lane. And a lot of Iranians have voted with their feet and left the country.
That’s actually all rather sad as Iran has everything it needs to be a wealthy, modern country. But the fact that it isn’t is almost entirely it’s own fault.
No…the West overthrew Mossadeq…so not the Iranians fault at all…it’s the West’s.
But yes, Iran has a lot going for it…except the leadership…which will only thrive if Iran is threatened as it did in the Iraq-Iran War…another Western co-up…
All true and for once I agree with you. I’m certainly not saying that Western policy to Iran over the past 80 years has been a success and I’ve never understood what we were doing backing Saddam’s Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War. However, Iran has had 45 years since 1979 to sort themselves out and they must take the bulk of the blame for not doing so. You can’t keep blaming events in the 1950s forever.
In the Iran-Iraq War the UK was doing what it was told by the USA…it’s what vassal states do…
And Iran is now a religious state, in fact dictatorship, not supported by the majority of the people, so “they” ie the people are not in a position “to sort themselves out”…in fact have huge scepticism about the West which promoted the Iraq attack on Iran.
That was a huge error by the West…the Iranian people have no love for their rulers…but attack their country and they’ll all fight like hell to defend it. Alleged “liberators” won’t be welcomed..because they’ll be conquerors.
As for events in the 1950s, the entire Middle East is driven by events even more ancient…the 1950s are merely yesterday for them…
Khomeini threatened the World starting with Sunni nations in the Middle East. Iraq attacked Iran when it thought it was weak because if Khomeini organised the Armed forces and with a population of 37M together Shia population in Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia ( popultion on on oilfields ) Kuwait and Lebanon it could have controlled much of the oil production in the Middle East. It is called the Shia arc which extends from Iran down to Qatar.
Khomeini represents a strand of Shia opinion which have opposed the adoption of western influenced constitutions since 1900 for the reason of them being un Islamic.
Leave them alone. Mind your own business.
Well said. The history of conflicts in the Middle East is interesting but irrelevant. The question is, What should we be doing NOW? I agree with Janet Baker — keep out of it.
Persia IS NOT A PROBLEM. Persia is an ancient and civilized land full of the most beautiful art created by beautiful and cultured people. Persia has the oldest rose garden in the world. Persian people love Roses.
Why don’t you talk to some actual Persians about the state of their country today, rather than spouting rubbish on their behalf? Persians like Elicia Le Bon:
‘During the Woman Life Freedom movement, when Biden came out with this deal to give 7 billion dollars to the Iranian regime … & Iranians came out in droves to be like ‘don’t do this!’ … I thought] Wait a minute you’re a liar, you claim to stand with the people & minorities, that’s what your whole thing is about, but you’re literally shitting on us, you see us in our thousands telling you to stop & you’re overriding the Iranian people to enforce your own narrative. You are a liar & your whole movement is a f*****g lie.’
‘That’s when I realised that the democrats were really pushing this alliance with a terrorist regime …& then when October 7th happened, i think that was my breaking point. Because that happened, off the heels of Freedom Life Woman, where we’d been explaining to everybody what these regimes are about & what they do … & oct 7th happened & I thought, ok, the world’s going to now see it, they’ll be like, we get it now, we get the whole terrorism thing. No. All of a sudden, every left wing account ‘oh they’re freedom fighters, they’re resistance, this this this, that was the biggest red pill moment for me, that this is just a deeply out of touch propagandised lie’
Source:
https://youtu.be/C4oux8iSKY4?si=aYdeGx8KUUT4dU1J
Also:
Masih Alinejad &
Mahyar Tousi
& I could go on listing actual Persians who actually care about their country.
Do you know the regime beats women to death for wearing the hijab incorrectly? It gangr*pes girls in jail & gouges out their eyes?
Shame on you for not standing with the Persian people while their ancient civilisation is being hijacked and destroyed.
Khomeini et al call the country Iran and only criticise the pre Islamic culture, they do not praise it. Friends call themselves Persians but they are anti Khomeini .Khomeini founded the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and they function very much like the SS under Hitler; a state within a state.
The countries most impacted by the Red Sea blockade are Egypt (suffering loss of Suez revenue), EU (logistics) and Israel (Port of Eilat). You’d think that this group could come together with a way to protect shipping or make the Houthis pay. Egypt needs to be politically correct, the EU is impotent and Israel has it hands full in Gaza and Lebanon.
At least Israel made of mess out of Yemen’s Hodeidah Port in July. Maybe when Israel finishes more of its to do list in Gaza, it could stop by and visit Yemen again.
The EU isn’t in the Middle East and should stay well clear (in any event it is, as you say impotent and actually falling apart).
It’s entirely up to the others what actions they choose.
We get the geography of the situation MC. Do you understand the trade route idea?
Yes…and the Red Sea is being by-passed as the article states. More expensive…but not as expensive as the continual military action will be…and no body bags!
Some people will wade through rivers of blood for a penny off.
But not their own blood…
So the shipping lanes that run through the Red Sea between Asia and Europe, that are affected by the Houthis, have nothing to do with the EU? What might the outcome be for the EU if the Red Sea route is closed down?
It’s by passed…as it already is…so just an expense.
But not “just an expense” but a big expense passed on to the population of the EU creating all sorts of ramifications.
And you think the EU population would prefer military action…which won’t work…bombs on EU streets…the general mayhem that would ensue?
Just isolate and work around the problem…
I agree with you about taking a different route, in more ways than one, and the issue of expense. You may be right, let them sort out their problems without us being involved.
I thought we weren’t in the EU now,so it’s not our problem.
Regrettably the UK is a vassal state of the USA, hence the airstrikes by UK forces from Cyprus (no, no idea why the UK still has a base there…a liability, not an asset…)…
I doubt that the UK is currently a vassal state of the US and if it is, we should assert our right to independent judgment. Most of the world is however becoming a vassal state of China because of the world population’s insatiable demand for cheap goods. And He who pays the piper calls the tune. I’d rather have home produced goods of quality, less of them but ones which last longer.
But the Suez Canal WAS closed down for several months on end a couple of years ago when a large ship got stuck. This didn’t send shock waves through the West as far as I can remember or affect the stock exchange much if at all.
The EU is very much in the Middle East. It may not have much military might deployed in the Middle East but it meddles heavily there through funding of organizations and initiatives as the long arm of its foreign policy.
Not sure that we actually do that much trade with the Middle East — except tourism of course. Be better if people didn’t go to nouveaux riches hubs like Dubai that I wouldn’t visit even if I had the money.
Another sunny place for shady people.
One thing the US could do to help the situation is refreeze Iranian assets. The unfreezing of billions by Obama, sorry, I mean Biden, is arguably one of the factors that led to the current cluster f.
I don’t exonerate the EU. We’re busy funding Hamas, sorry, I mean UNWRA, & sending general aid to the terrorist billionaires.
Well I expect that vaccine will kill off a lot of Pally kids so that’ll save you money then. Only why is The Yahoo and his crew so enthusiastic about this kind gesture. What’s in them vaccines.
You can’t refreeze assets once they’ve been unfrozen, or they go off.
You seem to have omitted China.
Facile to think that only a few countries are affected the disruption in the Red Sea. Like saying we don’t need the Suez Canal any more. Laughable.
Israel is already the front line against the ‘other side’ in the Middle East. It has protected the West far more than the West will ever realise, yet alone thank them for it if they do realise!
Thank a bunch of Kites!
Extremely unpleasant comment…why not just question the statement and its validity rather than make a pejorative comment?
Aaaah, you’re actually just a racist. That explains it.
I’m.everything ist. Fell off the tightrope years ago.
Here’s an idea! How about the West just leaves the Middle East the hell alone to find its own destiny, rather than try to impose Western ideas of democracy, and “civilisation”?
The West’s interference in the Middle East has always been fairly disastrous both for the region and the West. Just trade with it and otherwise leave it alone. They are more than happy to trade and make money, whether it’s oil, trade routes or any other commodity. They’re actually rather good at it.
It will happen anyway, as the article points out, so do it now and save money, blood and embarrassment.
Seems reasonable. But how do you deal with the Houthis? What do they represent in the Middle East and what do they want?
They want ‘death to Israel & death to America’. They shout it from the rooftops.
Right, so in regard to Cazaly, how can we just turn our backs and let it find “it’s own destiny”?
Simply by doing just that.
Enough with the White Saviour Complex.
Black supporters of the Palestinian-Arabs or Houthis should really travel to the Middle East & see how black people are treated.
For starters, they’re referred to as ‘abeed’ (or ‘abīd’) which literally means “servant” or “slave” in Arabic.
https://youtu.be/72QJ_5eWzgs?si=_cN7rRW3IpSsyk8x
‘Houthis Restore Slavery in Yemen’: ‘Yemeni activists revealed that since the coup, the Houthis sought to segregate Yemeni society into rulers and subjects, and masters and slaves… based on color, race and ancestry, he said on condition of anonymity.’
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1810456/exclusive-houthis-restore-slavery-yemen
And some of us say Go for it.
And the North Vietnamese shouted “death to America” in the 1970s…not so now…things can change given the right circumstances. Leaving people alone but trade with them seems to work just fine…
Difference being the Islamic Republic of Iran & its proxy terrorist groups have been shouting “death to America” SINCE the 1970s – whether America’s left it alone or not, tried being friends with it (Obama) or not.
Another difference being: actual Iranians, Yemenese & other captive populations in the region do not agree with their own terror regimes. Yet you’d still trade with them?
https://youtu.be/C4oux8iSKY4?si=wYr3qZGKu2ZUjh62
Whatever they want in the Middle East isn’t a concern of anyone but the Middle East
I understand what you mean by interference but why are the Houthis blockading the Red Sea? I had thought the Red Sea was international waters. The Houthis are resisting the Yemen government. What does that have to do with ships of all nations passing through the Red Sea? Suddenly the world is involved and not by choice.
The world is only involved if it wants to be. There is an alternative…more expensive but secure and without risk of being sucked into unforeseeable consequences. Let’s just take the alternative.
It would also have the advantage of pointing out that the Red Sea route really isn’t that important. The more the West makes it an issue the more leverage the Houthis have…
I don’t care because I’m.not into consumerism. So your kid isn’t going to get that pile of plastic crap for Xmas you ordered on.Amazon and it’s shipped from China. Tell your kid your giving him/her a lesson instead,about life.
If you read the comments a bit more carefully, if you bothered at all, you’d see that I came around to agreeing with Cazaly.
Well said!
In actual fact a bunch of scraggy arsed desert nomads whatever they are would NOT have this power unless they were being ENABLED and NOT by Iran even if they do buy drones from them. They can’t order them on.Amazon can they. These people whoever they.are,they are being.ALLOWED to get away with it. Maybe it’s to create a rationally justifiable pretext for bombing Iran. We are all about justifiable pretexts these days.
I have no idea how this applies to my most recent comment.
Well when people inspired by Qutb/ Mawdudi and Khomeini commit murder in the West, then the Middle East has arrived.
The inability of Western leaders to understand Q/M/K is like Rome not understanding Attila the Hun.
They live there. It’s their land. For hundreds of years I expect. Why do they have to be dealt with. They’re not a pest infestation.
Well, you are on a roll…and mostly right…
You ‘expect’?! Do you actually know anything about the region?
‘Houthis Restore Slavery in Yemen’: ‘Yemeni activists revealed that since the coup, the Houthis sought to segregate Yemeni society into rulers and subjects, and masters and slaves… based on color, race and ancestry, he said on condition of anonymity.’
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1810456/exclusive-houthis-restore-slavery-yemen
Because if you think that they don’t export their genocidal ideology and violence beyond the borders of the Middle East you are blind. You can’t just walk away, because they will follow you.
And if you want your oil and cheap Chinese goods to get through the Suez Canal, you can’t remain their hostage.
We simply don’t need oil and goods to go through the Red Sea..it’s more convenient and a bit cheaper but the cost of enforcing the route is prohibitive in blood and money…
I don’t want oil and cheap Chinese goods. And these ideologies have been well and truly exported already. No point in locking the door after the horse is munching hay in the meadow.
It’s not clear that we really do need their oil and we would certainly be far better off without cheap Chinese goods. We’d have to pay more for British made goods but so what? You can’t have you cake and eat it, and if the cake is unpalatable better to eat bread (the reverse of what Marie Antoinette said). We produce wheat or did and we can make bread. A country should aim to feed itself and produce the indispensable machines for industry — no one says this. Sebastian Hayes
It’s not just cheap Chinese goods (about which I don’t give a damn) though is it Rafi? The knock-on-effects of this economic blockade will be to worsen the cost of living crisis for the poorest in the west.
That is an extremely ignorant idea.
In case you haven’t noticed, there is an explosion of immigration from the Middle East to Western nations & they are not coming because they like our food or our weather.
Many (but by no means all or even a majority) are coming because of the ideology stated in the Koran that there should be a worldwide Caliphate under Muslim Rule & they see themselves as the forward troops of this Caliphate. NB. It only takes a few to set off a bomb which will cause mass devastation & loss of life.
The immigration is precisely because of Western meddling in the Middle East, eg the interventions in Libya, Syria…
And yes further meddling will indeed produce further bombs in the West…
Do you go and try to tame dangerous creatures…or stay well away and leave them alone? Your response indicates the latter; I’ll buy you boots and a rifle to go and lead the charge…do let me know when you’re going…
He’s not going. He’s sending his grandson. He’s sending your grandson.
I doubt “he” wants to send his…other people’s certainly…
Immigration is not primarily caused by Western meddling, it’s caused by the lamentable government of so many of these regimes and the superior generosity of the British political/economic system. As simple as that. And while the foreign regimes are awful and the British state is so welcoming, they’ll keep coming.
If the kit of the US is no longer fit for purpose then please inform the Chinese who are replicating it like there is no tomorrow.
China is operating in its own backyard, not somebody else’s…yet. Things may change…no doubt China will then…
There are some obvious solutions. In the short term, attacks on the Houthis’ sponsor Iran would quickly cause the Iranian regime to re-assess its priorities. In the long term rebuild US industrial capacity. I imagine both would be on Trump’s agenda were he to win the election.
Why not? Let’s have another Iraq debacle…
The reason why the attack is not headline news is that the MSM operates under license from the military-intelligence complex and they are embarrassed.
Brian Hanrahan counted them in and counted them out but now we dont see smug journos standing in the middle of a firestorm explaining the tactics of it,ie not having a clue and talking turkey. That was in the days when all sides observed that War rule.of the Geneva convention.or whatever that journalists like Red Cross were sacrosanct. Now theyre the first to get taken out. I’m not sorry I don’t want to see this warfare and I don’t.care about far off countries of which I know nothing. Nev got it right so they had to replace him with Winnie,the useful idiot.
Your language is rather extreme but the rationale is absolutely right.
Chamberlain knew Britain couldn’t win a short war or finance a long one…and so it proved. Churchill was, no doubt, a successful “war leader” but the best leaders are those who avoid war whilst preserving the nation and its power.
Getting into a conflict providing no substantial benefit but risking great cost is…unwise.
Well said. As someone wrote (Sun Tzu?) “If you want to avoid war, be prepared for it”. + exercise active diplomacy to defuse the situation. We are currently doing neither. Everyone knows we are not ready for war with Russia (or anyone else) but the newspapers are full of armchair firebrands stoking disputes that don’t concern them. The only solution to the Ukraine situation is a negotiated peace; Ukraine cannot possibly win against Russia and currently Russia can’t win either, it will just go on until exhaustion. Where’s diplomacy in all this? Sebastian Hayes
Cardinal Wolsey’s policy on Europe was always support the underdog. A nation could only threaten England when it controlled the whole of Europe’s resources; such as Phillip II of Spain, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Prussia in WW1 and Hitler in WW2.
Whether one cares or not is irrelevant. What matters is how other nations perceive the actions or inactions of the USA and how this impacts on their relations to the country. Thatcher’s actions over the Falklands changed how people perceived Britain. Most people support and buy from winners, not losers. If most countries especially those with leaders who are anti American perceive RHICNK stronger, they will support them to the detriment of the USA. people will buy goods from winners, if this is China, they not the USA will get the deals. Sports good companies pay winners to endorse their products, not losers because people buy from the former not the latter.
The fact that even T 90 tank are being blown up by NLAW missiles will be bad for sales of the former and good for the latter.
Mmmmm. I think there might be more to this story.
Perhaps tackling the Houthis means ultimately boots on the ground and engage directly. And no president or NATO leader wants to do that. Another western conflict in the Middle East would be a nightmare there and here.
It appears the US and NATO need to re-arm and fast. Billions spent on nuclear subs, carriers etc now look like folly.
The USA White House, the Washington administration is totally scared of American Moms,and good for those Moms. Remember the growing number of rallies in USA getting bigger and bigger as Moms got their sons back in a body bag. Then they had a huge rally ,on the White House lawn. Those American Moms were vociferous,purposeful,and fearsome. Joe Biden was scared but sadly,not to death of them. The Policy geeks realised they can’t do that ,- not in Ukraine or wherever. Can Kamachameleon get the Moms onside,being a Sistah,after all. I dont think so,they’re not that stupid.
The US doesn’t need to re-arm — but NATO arguably does. But the European countries being so selfish and hypocritical want the US to deal with their enemies. The UK, in getting every day more and more involved in the Ukraine war, is playing with fire: we are not in a posture to fight a war anywhere and we have over the years showed a signal lack of intelligent diplomacy with regard to Putin and Russia. If you don’t want war, be ready for it AND exercise diplomacy. We have done neither.
“yet a combination of prestige, complacency and the absence of a functioning industrial base all conspire to make the US military increasingly irrelevant”
Ouch! Nice one.
Whilst dealing with drone and missile strikes is difficult, I suspect the real cost-benefit analysis that the Americans have made is that given that the impact to the global economy appears to so far be limited, the cost of large scale military action just isn’t warranted.
The USA is concerned only with its own economy but yes that is the logical calculation which should be made.
It strikes me that American hegemony in the Middle East was stillborn in 1956 when they chose to support Nasser over Britain at Suez. Everything, from Palestine to Iran to Iraq to the Houthis is down-stream historically and politically from Eisenhower’s disastrous mistake there. Even the ongoing situation in Somalia and Sudan.
There is something almost Sophoclean about seeing America having to discover for itself, too late, the crucial role that the Pax Britannica played in that region. Not infrequently they seem to be engaged in fighting the same battles, in precisely the same places, against the same people that the British did. The British expedition against the Sultanate of Lahej in 1839 comes to mind when looking at a map of Houthis activity.
Indeed, the only stable and coherent quarter of the entire region is where the influence of Britain and British statecraft has lingered most powerfully – Jordan and the former Trucial States.
There are alternatives to the Suez route for trade between the EU and China. Many of them could involve Russia (overland, or via the Artic sea route). Via India is another possibility. Any alternatives would of course also involve Chinese cooperation. For purely ideological reasons both the US and its EU lapdog just cannot bear to contemplate any cooperation with Russia, India and China..
The West has lost its moral compass and tried to replaceit with military hardware. Military hardware can blow things up but cannot calm things down easily.
Basically a load of nonsense. “The West has lost its moral conscience and replaced it with cheap Chinese consumer goods” — that’s more the truth of it. Economics trumps politics. The consumer society is the root of all contemporary evils. Sebastian Hayes
At least between the ninth century AD & our current century we developed a moral compass to lose.
I think the most important observation in this article is that USA and its allies are fighting in WW2 style and have not adapted to fight guerrilla armies using relatively cheap drones . The answer is I presume a technological one. As drone combat seems the current way to wage war then surely we should be seeking to master it – from both the attack and defensive perspectives. Is this too difficult a technical challenge for the high tech West? If it is we are truly doomed. But I don’t think it can be beyond us – can it?? However I do agree that an F16 fighting a swarm of drones is a pretty dumb idea. But the Military can be very dumb .
“Today, the blockade is stronger than ever, and the American military has given up on trying to lift it.”
No, the Biden administration has given up on trying to lift it. The White House sets policy for the American military.
It might be the other way round. Well Kamala is a caring,sharing,earth mother girlie so she won’t be bombing folk,will she?
There are plenty of folks in the world who need to be bombed, which is exactly why we must never have a caring, sharing earth mother girlie as president. It’s possible I misread your tone.
It would be cheaper and more effective to simply put a company of marines or soldiers on board random ships transiting the region, and let the Houthi boarders be unpleasantly surprised by encountering them.
And the marines surprised when the ship goes up in flames because the Houthis already knew they were there through the Arab grapevine which saw them first…
And the “Don’t try because it might be hard” party joins the chat.
None of these little mud-hut tribes have the money or expertise to make their own drones. It’s all coming from Iran (with some funding from Arab petro dollars?). No, we can’t find and destroy the drones in Yemen, but we can find and destroy the freighters and planes bringing them in. And we know where the factories are in Iran. That’s the obvious solution.
“When the solution to your little problem is impossible, enlarge the problem.”
But that might end it and whats the point of that. No profit in that and no propaganda potential either.
Shill pap. The problem is not the U.S. Navy, it is the weak d**k leaders of the US and Europe who don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings due to two reasons. Their handlers, er donors, wouldn’t like it and they are unashamedly and comically inept.
If the gloves came off, I am sure the U.S. Navy would clean the Houthi’s clock. Another point is that if I owned ships that sailed the Red Sea, there would be a “security team” to take care of these clowns. Just add it to the price of doing business.
Another “new normal” way of not dealing with what really is good for the world but great for agendas. Tragic.
I’ve been really shocked to read all this. Not because I think America should be World Top Dog but because it goes against everything I’ve “absorbed” all my life,nearly 70 years now. In my mind I can see William Woollard on Tomorrows World ,it must have been in the 1980s explaining how the USA spy satellites up in space could read the headline on that morning newspaper you are reading. Now there’s nowhere for the bad guys to hide. Well,following decades showed that was nonsense. I was wondering what the situation was in that place. I had NOTICED the lack of any reports but I hadn’t realised the significance. Like a lot of people now I never watch TV news and avoid as many news reports as I can,one or two always slip through. I no longer want to be well informed. I never did really but back in the day it was seemingly a requirement of society. Now a lot of us realise it was just journalists talking up a market for their produce which is words of course,save as Estee Lauder talking up perfume or Farmer Smith talking up cabbages cos he grows em.
Really interesting piece on so many levels, including the acknowledgement that the US has over-relied for many decades now on “bombing us into a better world,” as Ron Liddle put it. ‘We have a military, we can use it for good’. No, you can’t.
This is entirely the result of the Biden/Harris administration. We have spent hundreds of millions in a “defensive” position when we could take out the Iranian proxies in a day. I do not believe the author is correct in this regard. BTW, drones are not “cheap”. The US military is more than capable, its CIC is not. We are constrained by policy, not capability. If Harris wins in November, Americans will pay the price in higher oil/gasoline prices.
We need to elect a President who has the balls to take action against those who hate America.
Pellew solved the problem of Algiers capturing slaves.
div > p:nth-of-type(3) > a”>Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth – Wikipedia
My father who had 5.5 years of combat experience on convoys in WW2 thought the response to the Solmali pirates was pathetic. He said 20mm cannon or even better modern day 25mm diameter , forward and aft, port and starboard on each ship would have solved the Somali pirate problem.
What is ignored is that most of the crews come from poor countries so ship owners and buyers of product do not care. Progressives completely ignore the reality is that the people who suffer from the Somali and Houthi problem are sailiors from poor countries who are de facto serfs. It is the same as Progessives ignoring crime in poor areas which has a massive adverse impact on the honest hard working people who lack the money to move out.
Even if the US could overpower all adversaries with force, the better path would be the same: be friendly.