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Who is and who is not in the US anti-Houthi coalition

5 months ago babelfish

Who is and who is not in the US anti-Houthi coalition

Presences and absences in the US anti-Houthi coalition

There is also an Italian ship in the device which, on the initiative of the USA, is about to deploy in the Red Sea to counter the repeated incursions of Yemen's Houthi rebels against cargoes and oil tankers arriving from or heading towards Suez.

Here are all the details, including the doubts and reticence of some of the participants themselves, of the Prosperity Guardian operation launched on Tuesday by Pentagon chief Austin.

THE HOUTHI THREAT

The Houthi threat in the Red Sea is highlighted by data from Ambrey Analytics cited by Axios according to which between November 19 and December 18, 37 attacks on cargo ships occurred in those waters, mostly concentrated in the area of ​​the Bab el Strait. Mandeb.

As the New York Times observes, this wave has already led some shipping companies to abandon that route and opt for longer routes, with the obvious consequence of increasing costs and damaging an already weak global economy.

THE SUEZ NODE

Cutting off Suez effectively means giving up a vital artery through which, since the opening of the canal in 1869, goods and oil have transited from Asia and the Middle East to Europe and the United States.

As Chris Rogers, head of supply chain research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, explained to the NYT , out of the fifty ships that pass through Suez every day, as many as 32 had changed course three days ago.

THE AUSTIN STATEMENTS

It is in light of all this that the US Defense Secretary launched Operation Prosperity Guardian with a statement on Tuesday to address, in his words, "the recent escalation of the reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen and threatening free trade flows, they endanger the lives of innocent sailors and violate international law."


WHO IS THERE

The operation, revealed the n. 1 of the Pentagon, brings together the forces of the countries that have joined, namely the United Kingdom, Bahrain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sechelles and Spain.

But there would actually be 19 nations on board Prosperity Guardian according to Politico reporter Lara Seligman who confides in in silence.

In fact, 43 countries participated in the Defense ministerial meeting called the day before yesterday by Austin to discuss the operation and its desired expansion:

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

As Austin himself specified, this multinational security initiative will operate “under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and the leadership of its Task Force 153”.

The Defense News website specifies that CMF is a multinational maritime partnership that the US leads from the large Fifth Fleet base located in Bahrain. It boasts 39 members including European and NATO and deploys various task forces that patrol strategic hubs such as the Gulf of Oman, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea which is the area specifically assigned to Task Force 153 established in 2022 to counter the smuggling of weapons, drugs and coal and human trafficking.

GREAT BRITAIN'S CONTRIBUTION

The Ministry of Defense in London, Defense News recalls, announced on 19 December that the Royal Navy's contribution will consist of moving the cruiser HMS Diamond, which is already on site, to the area of ​​operations.


The Diamond has already been involved in kinetic action in which it shot down a drone heading towards a commercial vessel in what was the first time since the 1991 Gulf War that Her Majesty's Navy neutralized an aerial target .

FRANCE

As the military news site reports, Paris is participating in the operation with the Languedoc frigate which has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the southern area of ​​the Red Sea since last December 8th.

Here already two days later the Lamguedoc shot down two drones that had left Yemen with clear hostile intent, and then on 11 December shot down a third which was headed towards a Norwegian oil tanker which the French ship subsequently approached to prevent its hijacking.

But, in an article in which it highlighted the doubts and reticence of the allies involved in the operation, Reuters specified that Paris did not deploy any ships because the Languedoc was already in the area and no sending of additional naval forces is expected, with the adding that the command of Languedoc remains firmly in French hands.

ALSO ITALY

Our country also joined after the discussion held in videoconference by Austin with his colleague Crosetto which took place on Tuesday.

With a statement released immediately afterwards, the head of Defense announced the sending of the Virginio Fasan frigate to the Red Sea so that Italy could play its part in countering "the destabilizing terrorist activity" of the Houthis.

But, as the Italian media and also Reuters soon clarified, the Italian device is not actually part of the Prosperity Guardian operation but is attributable to an already existing mission.

SPANISH MYSTERY

Although its name is present in the list of countries participating in the operation provided in the official Pentagon statement, Spain has made it known through its Ministry of Defense that "we will not unilaterally participate in the operation in the Red Sea" reserving the right to take part only to missions led by NATO or coordinated by the EU.

WHAT ABOUT THE ARAB COUNTRIES?

If we make an exception for Bahrain, the absence of Arab actors stands out and in particular that of Egypt which sees the approximately 10 billion dollars that Cairo obtains every year from the rights of passage of ships in Suez at risk.

There is little doubt that none of the 22 Arab states wanted to be associated with an operation launched also to defend Israel's interests.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/chi-ce-e-chi-non-ce-nella-coalizione-usa-anti-houthi/ on Thu, 21 Dec 2023 08:00:10 +0000.