The US and some of its allies released a joint statement on Wednesday threatening Yemen’s Houthis over their attacks on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea, which started in response to the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza.
“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways,” the statement reads.
The statement was issued by the US, Britain, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Australia, and Bahrain, the only Arab nation to sign onto the threat.
The Times of London previously reported that the US and Britain were working on a joint statement that would threaten action against the Houthis if they didn’t stop the Red Sea attacks. Sources told the paper that options being considered by the US and UK were direct airstrikes on Yemen or using special operations forces to target Houthi boats. The US has already sunk Houthi boats, killing 10 during a confrontation on Sunday.
Bombing Yemen would risk shattering the fragile peace in Yemen between the Houthis and the US-backed Saudi-led coalition. It would also risk sparking a major regional war as the Houthis could expand the scope of what they’re targeting, and they are capable of striking at long distances with their missiles and drones.
The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, have vowed not to back down in the face of the US military. Ansar Allah officials have repeatedly stated that they will not stop their attacks on Israeli-linked commercial shipping until the Israeli siege on Gaza ends.
The Biden administration has shown no interest in using any of its leverage on Israel to end the slaughter in Gaza. The US continues to provide unconditional military support and is opting for regional escalation rather than cutting off Israel.
Are you phucking kidding me?…..
Iran moves warship to Red Sea after US destroys Houthi boats
Iran this week moved a warship to the Red Sea in what could be an escalation in the Middle East as the U.S. battles the Iranian-backed Houthis in the region and recently sunk three boats.
The Iranian Alborz destroyer passed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday before it entered the Red Sea, according to Iranian state media outlet Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
State media did not report what the Iranian warship would be doing in the Red Sea, but noted the deployment comes amid rising tensions across the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war rages.
The Iranian warship will at the very least ruffle the feathers of the U.S. and its new maritime coalition tasked with defending the Red Sea from the Houthis in Yemen.
But Tehran’s destroyer could also pose a more direct threat if Iran decides to intervene in any conflict between the U.S. and the Houthis.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4384661-iran-moves-warship-to-red-sea-after-us-destroys-houthi-boats/
Means nothing. Iran like Turkey and Israel all bunch of cowards. They sit on technology and hiss at each other from a distance. They only go after the weak rag tag groups that stand no chance. I see the west occupying Houthis in the near future. A move, Saudis will welcome most graciously.
You think the West is going to occupy Houthi-controlled Yemen? Which Westerners do you think are going to do that?
None. The West has no interested or need to occupy Yemen. The West can and if necessary destroy Yemen’s ability to interfere with international shipping.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f525922b55b9245652f66f99158b8729a624bbeffcd148da6645023691ec23ab.jpg
LOL
Your comment reads like you want those three nations to go after each other. Not a good idea.
If nothing else, it’s a trip wire .
Monkeys cower in fear to a foolish massive bully Gorilla running around chest-beating… But they could be waiting until that foolish Gorilla tires himself out.
Oh, no! “Threatening action?” What’ll they do, what’ll they do?
Probably keep doing what they’ve been doing … they are brave and committed.
Probably keep doing what they’ve been doing, because they are brave, committed and stupid.
Trying to stop a genocide is “stupid” in your view? What does that make you? A heartless bastard?
Yes their action is stupid. It will accomplishing nothing and just make matters worst. The best way to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza is to stop the war by Hamas surrendering. As long as Hamas hides in tunnels under civilians structures in Gaza civilians will die. That is not Israel’s fault, that is on Hamas.
By supporting Hamas, Houthis can only prolong the war, which means more people will die. That is goal of Hamas, make Israel look bad, at all cost.
Their action is heroic. If a man runs into a burning house to save a child people don’t say he was stupid or that he “didn’t accomplish nothing”. He tried to save a child’s life. And you can make up excuses until you are blue in the face and it won’t change the fact that Israel is the one carrying out this genocidal attack that has killed at least 22,000 people and left 500,000 near starvation. There is no existential threat that warrants the attempted displacement of over 2 million people.
The Houthis are supporting the Palestinians who are being collectively punished by an attack that has killed 22,000 people and left 500,000 near starvation. I repeat those numbers because you seem to forget the magnitude of Israels slaughter.
The best way to stop killing civilians in Gaza is to stop killing civilians in Gaza. Like try for example to have Israel not bombing Palestinian civilians where they are ethnically cleansed into. That should prove to be a very effective way of not killing civilians, children and women and men in Gaza.
You can see the Houthi’s actions are effective by the desperation of the US and whatever feeble ‘coalition’ they can scrape together in support of an ongoing genocide. You can measure it by it’s impact on Israel’s economy, the part that consist of not just subsidy by American taxpayers that is. The US now has a choice between paying for this gap on top of the self-inflicted economic damage by Israel’s choice to pull their workforce in order to mass murder Palestinian civilians, or by chosing to slaughter Houthi civilians until they abandon their heroic, moral and strategically very smart defence of the basic human rights of Palestinians in the spirit of and in accordance with the universality of human rights, to which the West in a not too distant past used to pay at least lip service to.
And yes, Israel looking bad is a problem for Israel indeed. They do not need the Houthi’s for that in the smallest of ways. They are very effectively doing it all by themselves. The point here is that Israel has no way of dealing with that, as they have never had to deal with the consequences of that. They never in their history had to deal with the consequences of their actions and so they do not have any workable concept of accountability.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4614483d4e3b2a82386760081a22e0394ba80ec0a0ba96219aa6edbeb30c4c72.jpg
This makes it perfectly clear that, despite so-called “analysts” saying that the US wants to avoid a wider war, the US and Israel definitely want a wider war.
This entire situation is the result of two “traps” in which both sides thought they were trapping the other:
1) The Israelis threatened the Al-Agsa mosque knowing that Hamas would respond. This would give them the excuse to do what the US neocons told them they could finally do: cleanse Palestine of Palestinians. If Hezbollah, Syria or Iran get involved, the US would back Israel and start a war to get rid of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Hamas took the bait and attacked Israel, falling into the US-Israeli trap.
Unfortunately, the US and Israel fell in to the second trap:
2) Hamas had been planning this for years. Their attack was much more effective than Israel realized. More importantly, their strategy and defenses against an Israeli incursion were much more effective than Israel anticipated. The same applies to Hezbollah, which is much stronger than 17 years ago. So is Iran and Syria, which now have firm alliances with Russia and China. Also, the Houthis were an unexpectedly effective force causing great damage to Israel’s economy and potentially the world economy. Thus the US and Israel fell into the Axis of Resistance trap.
This is a perfect storm for a major Middle East war which could escalate to the point where major actors like Russia and China would have to intervene.
There is nothing stopping that from happening since both the US and Israel are currently run by ideological fanatics “with no brake pedal” as Mercouris likes to say – and the Axis of Resistance has the military capabilities to cause serious damage to both the US and Israel which the US and Israel can not prevent or defeat.
I give you credit coming up with some interesting ideas. You should write war fiction novels.
It seems (to me anyway) that the recipe for a World War is in the final stages. The main catalyst is the U.S. of Atrocities, ie, the Biden Administration. May he ride the first ICBM we fire off, as in the scene with Slim Pickens riding one to the big kaboom.
Garbage fire or cluster fu@k. I think the only hurdle in this war’s path must be some minds pushing back from within the US military, trying to use some logic and common sense. I have no doubt the Neocons/deep state will crush those voices.
And this is how Yemen responds to threats:
Yemeni Armed Forces Target “CMA CGM TAGE” Container Ship Heading to ‘Israel’
https://english.almanar.com.lb/2015631
Yemen’s Houthis say they ‘targeted’ CMA CGM container ship bound for Israel
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2024/01/03/Yemen-s-Houthis-say-they-targeted-CMA-CGM-container-ship-bound-for-Israel
Allies? No, it is just the US fighting for Israel.
Bahrain’s contribution is to allow the US to continue use of its Fifth Fleet base there.
The UK sent one ship, one known to have problems. Others sent only a few officers to “consult” at fleet HQ.
This is just the US supporting Israel. Everybody else is keeping some distance.
The international community will not allow Yemen to interfere with shipping.
But they will allow an ongoing genocide. Got to have priorities.
Well they don’t want to get involved. Are they willing to send in their troops to root out Hamas and free the hostages?
Who is they? There wouldn’t be a coalition without the US. So, are you saying the US doesn’t want to get involved? That’s horseshit if you are. So once more, the US has priorities and stopping an ongoing genocide isn’t one of them.
You used the term “they” first, so you need to define “Who is they?”. Considering the urban density of this battlespace, the civilians losses are a fact of combat. That is not genocide.
My “they” is the International community, including the US. Or, ESPECIALLY the US.
“Considering the urban density of this battlespace, the civilians losses are a fact of combat. That is not genocide.”
The complete disregard for civilian life makes it a war crime. Israel’s stated goals by government officials is for the removal of the entire population of Gaza. Or as they call it, “voluntary migration”. The options are leaving or dying. Or a genocide in motion.
As if Hamas,Hezbollah, and all the myriad entitites Israel fights have a regard for human life.
Which means it’s all right that Israel doesn’t too? I don’t condone the killing of innocents by any group. You do.
If Israel was interested only in “rooting out Hamas and freeing hostages” and not the ethnic displacement of the Palestinian population, they would have approached the matter differently.
Instead of indiscriminate bombing of all civilian areas in Gaza to the tune of more than 70% of residences being demolished already, they would have moved in with a heavy police/military ground attack, capturing building after building, slowly and methodically, separating baddies from civilians, as they went. Take your time, what’s the hurry?
This way, 20,000 people would be alive that are not, millions would not be homeless, and millions would not be on the verge of ethnic cleansing … but then, the latter WAS the plan, so …
Who is the “International community” if it includes China and Russia, they would help if it gives them leverage against US moves against them. They aren’t going to give the West a “free pass” in wartime only to be oppressed by the very same West during peacetime. Want us China to be involved? Sit and talk first. Let’s talk about removing sanctions that interferes with the Chinese economy.
“International community” in this case is the countries that have a vested interested in free shipping in the Red Sea. China and Russia will not interfere with those countries from keeping the shipping lanes open. The China and USA trade relationship, which is very complicated, has nothing to do with this issue.
The only shipping being stopped are ships to the country conducting an on-going ethnic cleansing operation … most countries are quite ok with this, as you’ve seen by their very quiet reaction.
Not even the attackers are claiming that they’re only attacking ships headed to Israel. They’ve claimed attacks on ships they say are “linked to” Israel, which is a different criterion.
Same difference. The strategy is to inflict damage on Israel’s economy to put at least some actual tangible pressure on Israel to stop their ongoing genocide. This the “prosperity” that the US, their toothless little vicious lap dog UK and a couple of washed out European sailormen are now “guarding.”
So that criterion is in accordance with that strategy logically sound.
Houthis have randomly fired on ships. They have no idea who owns what ships or where they are headed. They think they do, but they are usually wrong. In any case, this stupid act by Houthis will be stopped.
The ability to track any commercial vessel on the planet, including vessel name, ownership, flag, origin, and destination, starts at $19 per month. Do you think the Houthis don’t have $19?
Very good interview with Max Blumenthal on Judge Napolitano’s Youtube show (must view!):
Max Blumenthal: Max takes on the Israeli Press.
Wow! Thank you for posting that. Mr. Blumenthal is fearless, and he is also good at laying out the critical issues, the truth, that really frightens me. Biden, Trump, all of the members of Congress, save few of them, are all in on this sh*t storm, and possible World War. Mr. Biden is the engineer of the train that is going to careen off of the tracks, crash, and perhaps take many of us with it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting it.
You’re welcome. Everyone should watch Napolitano’s live streams with Crooke, Macgregor, Ritter, Blumenthal, Johnson, Giraldi and McGovern. Somewhat less so with Sachs and Mearsheimer, who are lightweights when it comes to understanding ground truth.
Sachs is good on calling out corruption of the MIC.
I agree. Max is solid and I haven’t seen him ever fall for those obvious traps of “do you condemn…?” Almost everyone else does.
Excellent interview. Thanks for the link.
Good piece by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg, a Blumenthal colleague and sometimes contributor to The Grayzone:
TOP DEMOCRAT-LINKED PR FIRM TAPPED BY PRO-ISRAEL GROUPS TO CONTROL GAZA WAR NARRATIVE
https://www.mintpressnews.com/democrat-linked-pr-firm-tapped-pro-israel-groups-control-gaza-war-narrative/286514/
British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/05/30/journalist-kit-klarenberg-british-police-interrogated-grayzone/
UK National Union of Journalists withdraws its defence of Kit Klarenberg
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/06/hlha-j06.html
US, Allies threaten…. ’bout sums it up for me. Same old shit all my life. I’ve come to expect the same bullshit every time the idiots in charge decide to deal with anyone who isn’t a simpering lackey.
The US has no allies or friends only LACKEYS who hang on the coat tails of the US for a few crumbs off the table , and hope they don`t get SANCTIONED for not reading the MEMO.
Unfortunately our country is one of them (New Zealand). For all our lackying we can’t even get a free trade agreement with the US.