For two months now, the US and the Houthis have been actively targeting one another in the Red Sea. The Houthi rebels are fighting for Gaza and blockading ships in the Red Sea from countries that support Israel’s deadly regime. Of course the US had to insert themselves and claim that they are going to safeguard “global commerce” because everyone knows that the only thing the US does care about is money. So, the US has created a coalition of countries called Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect their prosperity and kill dissenters.
What the US did not count on is the tenacity of the Houthis who have not backed down one iota since they proclaimed that they would blockade the Red Sea in the name of a free Palestine. The US also did not calculate that their Operation Prosperity Guardian would be affecting the actual prosperity of the US. The irony is just impeccable. All of the US attacks on the Houthis is costly to keep up. On top of the overall maintenance and deployment of naval assets, the US is spending a good deal on expensive drones and other weapons that the Houthis easily take down with much cheaper versions.
This is more about control than anything else. The US does not want to be told they cannot have access to something because no one tells the US what to do (more should so that US elected officials lose this mindset). With the Houthis calmly persisting in their attacks, the US cannot handle or comprehend that they are being outmaneuvered by a rebel group from an impoverished country. The Houthis do not have the top of the line weapons of the US, but that does not matter, and this discrepancy is frustrating US officials.
To punish the Houthis for their blockade, the US is continuing to bomb Yemen where the Houthis bases are located in, and these airstrikes are killing both Houthis and innocent Yemenis. The Houthis, on the other hand, have not killed anyone in their attacks. This deadly retaliation from the US is akin to a child’s tantrum. The US cannot handle when a group or country goes directly against their directives, and this violent response demonstrates that mindset.
The US has bombed Yemen over 230 times. That is appalling. It must be reiterated that the Houthis have not killed anyone in their blockade. Innocent Yemenis are being killed and the US is doing this in the name of capitalism.
The determination of the Houthis is commendable. They have not faltered since their declaration of the Red Sea blockade. They don’t have the latest and greatest arms, but it doesn’t matter. This dedication and creative thinking is something to be studied because they know what they are doing and they are doing it well. They have new plans for attacks which they will utilize soon, as they have promised like their underwater drone that no one had expected.
Just so the American voters understand, missiles cost between 2 million and 4 million dollars depending on what the US is using. Some missiles can be as expensive as 15-18 million dollars per missile. It all depends on the types of systems on the US battleships. It is known and reported that the US has lost two drones that the Houthis destroyed costing 64 million dollars all together. The US is just papering the military industry with taxpayer dollars at this point and praying that they can somehow keep up with the Houthis.
What is the cost of the US protecting global “prosperity”? Why are American taxpayers dollars used to defend international waters at such an extreme cost? Why are Americans responsible to pay for corporations so they can travel the Red Sea? Why must we incur that cost? That’s at least 1 billion at this point, and what could that money be used for at home or allocated for humanitarian needs like the Sudanese and Congolese that are in desperate need of aid.
It’s amazing, in the worst kind of way, that the US puts any drone in the air at the cost of 32 million dollars per drone. Who is doing the cost risk assessment and thinks that putting a drone at that cost into the air with the potential to be shot down is acceptable? This line of reasoning from US elected officials is dangerous and American voters should be questioning why their tax dollars are being spent in such a reckless manner. The only one profiting here are the military industry for fleecing the US taxpayers. So, in a way, Prosperity Guardian is working because there is one industry that are lining their pockets with profit.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper for corporations to simply use the longer route around African than for the US to be using such an exorbitant amount of money for missiles and other defenses? Not many are, but again, this has never been about actual protection of vessels, but the US attacking a group that defied them. Somehow, the US is claiming self-defense over international waters as their justification for their continued assaults on the Houthis and Yemen, but it’s really all about control and oppressing a rebel group that is disregarding US authority (as the Houthis should because the US has no jurisdiction there or any global authority).
Who knows, the Houthis just might win and the US might end their capitalist operation protection in the Red Sea. It would be another win for the David’s of the world, and another loss for the Goliath’s. It’s always heartening when the underdog wins and the blatant aggressor and bully crumbles from their own folly.
From the river to the sea, may Palestine be free. May the whole world be free.
Protest
Boycott
Disrupt everything
Vote 3rd party
BE UNGOVERNABLE
Demand embargoes and sanctions for Israel, US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia.
Please extend your energy to other countries and people facing genocide and atrocities in Sudan, Congo, West Papua, the Rohingyas, Armenians, and the Uyghurs.
Articles for reference (please read and share)
The Hill: Houthi fight extracts heavy cost on Pentagon
Al Jazeera: Can US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis be justified as ‘self-defence’?