The United States called on the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to take urgent action against Yemen’s Houthi rebels for attacking ships in the key Red Sea trade route and warned their longtime financier Iran that it has a choice to make about continuing to provide support to the rebels.
U.S. deputy ambassador Christopher Lu told an emergency council meeting that the Houthis have carried out more than 20 attacks since Nov. 19 – and despite losing 10 fighters in a confrontation with U.S. forces after trying unsuccessfully to board a cargo ship on Sunday, the rebel group announced Wednesday morning they had targeted another container ship.
The Houthis, who have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014, have said they launched the attacks on ships in the Red Sea with the aim of ending Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel.
International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told the council that as a result of the Houthi attacks, around 18 shipping companies have rerouted their vessels around South Africa to avoid the risk of being hit.
Damn, if only they hadn’t literally just burned all their diplomatic capital defending Netanyahu.
That’s not what’s happening here. If anything, this the US flopping it’s massive dong on the table and asking if anyone else wants to prove they can dick her down good enough to take over.
The post-WW2 global economic order is built on the security guarantee that maritime trade is secure because the US Navy will fuck anyone’s shit up who uses force to interfere with it.
Ironically, the biggest benefactor of this arrangement has been China. That’s also who would be most impacted by long term closure of these particular maritime routes.
So knowing that only the USN is currently capable of providing the long term security guarantees for this situation, they are going to make a show of it, or extract something of value their efforts - even if it’s just countries voting for some UN resolution that goes against their public statements or political rhetoric.
Please understand that this explanation isn’t my personal endorsement, approval, or disapproval, of what’s happening, or why, it’s just a very high level statement of facts and neutral analysis on the situation.
It’s one of the six tenets of the purpose of operating such a widespread Navy, enforce maritime security.
I don’t remember the other five, but that one made me chuckle. It always comes back to money.