The US and the UK strike Houti targets in Yemen overnight. Good or bad?

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121861776#Comment_121861776

Or given to a good cause.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121861790#Comment_121861790

absolutely.

but while israel commit genocide unfortunately we are where we are.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121861706#Comment_121861706

Lol I don’t ascribe to your position. If shipping companies dodge their taxes I have no care if they run into trouble. Your crap from Alibaba will have to wait until they pay their dues.

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862253#Comment_121862253

First of all, you don't even seem to understand my position. Second, your memory must be failing if you already forgot the mayhem caused by a ship blocking the Suez canal - arguably it's still affecting us, some of the price rises never reversed. It wasn't just crap from Alibaba, and even worse, arguably it was the opportunity chinesium crap sellers like Shein and Temu needed.

Lirange

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121860873#Comment_121860873

This topic is a weird place & context to project your displeasure with the Flag of Convenience maritime conventions. Not that it isn’t a worthy issue. I’d like to see it outlawed, regulations upheld, and tax evasion curtailed. I just don’t see how any of the events in the Red Sea address that issue in any meaningful or productive way. Also it’s worth keeping in mind that very few ships using the Red Sea/Suez Canal are actual assets of American shipping companies, irrespective of where the vessels are registered. The US is simply not a big player in the global container shipping sector, especially not nowadays. And what is US owned & operated is primarily confined to the Pacific.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_container_shipping_companies

z80CPU

Houthis are no means a spent force yet folks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27zG3GNxmdI

brickster69

A bit more on that Liberian company with no address and with no connection to the US.

https://www.financeuncovered.org/stories/liberia-americas-outpost-financial-secrecy

brickster69

Houthi's attacked US warships with 37 drones last night and a US cargo ship.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-791035

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862335#Comment_121862335

Perhaps you could try a civil response instead of attacking the user and not clarifying your position. Give a go now?

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862646#Comment_121862646

Regardless if they are a “big player” or not, if Houthis attacked a U.S. ship under a flag of convenience in the Red Sea, even if it was the only US ship with a flag of convenience in 100 years to cross the Red Sea and wasn’t carrying a single shipping container: **** em, on their own.

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121869865#Comment_121869865

Global trade disruptions are very bad. We should not allow them to happen. It costs us less to bomb these savages than it will cost us if we allow them to disrupt global trade. We can use the money we waste in foreign aid we sent to those areas, because clearly they have money to spare now.

Lirange

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121869886#Comment_121869886

This has yet to happen. But your contingent ifs are noted.

What about any loss of life on these vessels? Targeting them also means targeting the people aboard. Does your visceral “**** em” philosophy apply to those employed by said companies? Most of these workers hail from countries like Vietnam, The Philippines, India, Bangladesh, etc. It’s a thankless job & most of them are not commensurately compensated which is why these shipping firms rely on labour from relatively poorer countries. These businesses will recover from such attacks easier than the families of those slain whilst working on their ships.

thereiver

The houthi s are not an organized conventional army with large military bases tanks or artillery . They are attacking ships because they are angry at Israel for bombing Gaza .they use cheap drones or missiles they get for free from Iran let's say they launch 20 drones don't care if only one or two drones hit a ship or cause damage

If ships stop going thru the red sea it will cause prices to rise as it increase,s shipping cost of basic materials Western country's depend on eg this could cause the costs of goods in shops supermarkets to rise for everyone

Unless they USA government want to do a Gaza type mass bombing of that country that will kill thousands of innocent civilians it's unlikely they could defeat the houthi,s . One cheap drone can cause serious damage to a ship if it hits it in the right place it's too late there's already ships avoiding going thru the red sea disruption is happening and undersea cables that carry the internet have been damaged

volchitsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121894213#Comment_121894213

Ref undersea cables: it's mostly Africa that has been disrupted apparently. I'm sure that's a really damaging strike against US interests by the Houthis right there. Such Robin Hoods as they are. 😡

fly_agaric

Cheap and all as the drones may be, the Houthis cannot make them afaik.

They are firing much more complex anti ship and ballistic missiles as well, they definitely don't make these themselves.

Think it all comes via ship from Iran (their benefactors) and I remember reading speculation Iran helps them with targetting & intelligence for attacks too, esp. the ones further away from Yemen (one of them occurred in Indian ocean).

So other option (not involving attacking Yemen) that may stop it is to go after the "organ grinder" supplying and directing this campaign (blockade the Iranian weapons ships, bomb Irans' weapons factories, sink Iran's navy such as it is) but results of that could be very unpredictible and dangerous.

Seems clear the US has decided not to do that.

brickster69

Houthi's claim they have hypersonic missiles now and will attack Israeli ships heading around Africa also.

https://splash247.com/houthis-vow-to-extend-attacks-deeper-into-the-indian-ocean/

brickster69

Probably the head of the Russian army sent the missiles. Look at them both out voting today, it looks like that bloke we were told had been killed a few months back doesn't it ? He looks quite well for someone who is dead to me.

https://twitter.com/oorlog_monitor/status/1768611472408461511

pcardin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862253#Comment_121862253

this comment is gold. Showing how little person understands the global trade if they thinks its alibaba crap that's on those ships. lol. Probably will be the first crying in other forums about life getting more and more expensive, delays on car parts, electronics, components, the stupid shop whos is delaying the order of their new sofa, etc.

pcardin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121896670#Comment_121896670

Apart from those fascists clowns nobody else from public is seen voting on that video, plus there is no date stamp. ruSSians use the method called "konserva" where they pre-record videos in advance for potential future events. That is also a reason why Putin is sometimes seen in 2 different 'live' events simultaneously. Of course, he has doubles too.

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121896670#Comment_121896670

I wonder who they voted for ?

pcardin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121897627#Comment_121897627

Donald Trump, of course

20silkcut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870717#Comment_121870717

Nobody has the ability of the Americans to project power like that. The Americans are no longer interested in being the Global policeman. It doesn’t win any votes for their politicians back home. Post 9/11 this trend was disrupted but unless there is severe threat of Nuclear war or something on that scale the average American doesn’t care about beyond their own borders. There is no domestic political capital for American politicians in securing far flung global trade routes . That is a reality that many on this side of the world have difficulty grasping.

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121898346#Comment_121898346

There is no domestic political capital for American politicians in securing far flung global trade routes

But there is lobby. And there can be political capital also if the politicians would spend a fraction of their time convincing ordinary americans of benefits of global trade.

20silkcut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121899303#Comment_121899303

Back during the Cold War they were barely able to get the American people onside to back the Vietnam war and they utterly burned through that capital by the early 70’s. Bush senior managed to get it together for the first Gulf war and then 9/11 drove on the second Iraq war and Afghanistan. That made the shipping lanes safe for the last 20 years but now there is nothing. They don’t want to know about Ukraine they don’t want to know about Palestine they don’t want to know about Houthis in the Red Sea. The US is finished being the world policeman. Whether it’s Trump or Biden or whoever. It’s not a vote winner in the US and hasn’t been for well over 40 years or more. Varadkar in Washington today appealing to Joe Biden about Israel.

The only metric involved for Biden is that it is more politically expedient at home for him to shut up about Israel and keep the Jewish lobby on board. There is more votes at stake. Opinions outside the US don’t matter.

But He “agrees” that what’s happening is tragic. And I’m sure he agrees that global trade is good.

Cordell

Not everything has to be a vote winner. And especially in the US not everything politicians do is driven directly by the people, I would say people come third after lobby and other priorities like national interest and even personal interest. So there is plenty of reasons and incentives to protect the global trade and to continue to be the world policeman. The alternative is way worse.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121897516#Comment_121897516

Maybe for you Europeans, I get my nice imports shipped from the pacific. Good to know you defend tax dodgers though because “muh car parts” they aren’t refusing to fly the Irish flag after all, so what do you care

volchitsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903246#Comment_121903246

Oh so it's grand if the European economy suffers from (yet) higher oil prices and costs of importing microchips etc because you get your "Alibaba" crap via the Pacific so you're not affected.

Similarly, it's entirely unimportant if impoverished Filippino and Indian families lose their breadwinners if one of these ships sinks in a Houthi attack. Because again, you won't be affected.

Okay, got that.

I'm oddly relieved to hear you weren't taking an ethical position on this, as I'd have been kind of concerned about my ability to read character on the internet. 😏

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121904993#Comment_121904993

That’s your argument shoved in my mouth. But if you want your European economy protected send your own navy then and stop expecting the Americans to do everything for you.