[noemon]

I couldn't agree more. I was expecting Greece to take somewhat of an active role in this due to Greek shipping.

Dendias said more than month ago we will send a frigate, then today after a Greek ship was seized by Iran, he said we will send 2, but when I searched for more details, I realised that that the mission is several months away and that the US, UK presence is minute, like a couple of ships and a couple of flights from Cyprus.

Generally speaking people in Europe are just sleep-walking.

Greece offers itself as European HQ for the EU naval mission in the Red Sea and to take on the leadership of the mission.

Positively acceptable say EU Ministers of Defense.

The mission(ASPIDES/SHIELDS) is on course to begin mid-February. The leading EU countries are Greece, Italy, and France. Germany has pledged 1 ship for now.



It should be noted that the usual suspects like Orban have not vetoed this mission and are instead only abstaining from it.

[Skynet]

A war could pollute the red sea with ammo and mines for decades.

The Northern Corridor over Russia and Arctic would become an alternative in summer.

And Chinas "Belt and Road" program could play a role in transport of goods.

For the Houtis is the trouble with the West, politicaly positive because their former enemies unite behind them, in Yemen.

[noemon]

Greece Assumes Command of EU’s Red Sea Security Operation
By
Tasos Kokkinidis
February 14, 2024

Greece assumed command of the EU’s Red Sea maritime security operation which would aim to prevent attacks against ships and ensure freedom of navigation.

The EU announced that the operation dubbed “Aspides” "EUNAVFOR ASPIDES", meaning shields or protector in Greek, will contribute to maritime security along the main sea lanes in an area including the Straits of Bab el-Madab and the Straits of Hormuz, as well as international waters in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

The strategic objective will be to escort ships in the area of operations, provide situational awareness and protect ships from multi-dimensional attacks at sea, “in full respect of international law, including the principles of necessity and proportionality”, in a sub-area of the area of operations.

Commanding the operation will be Greek Commander in Chief Vassilios Gryparis, with the Aspides operational headquarters located in Larissa, central Greece.

Aspides will also cooperate with the US-led operation “Prosperity Guardian”, as well as with states wishing to contribute to maritime security in its area of activity.

It is supported by the European Union Satellite Centre (SATCEN) and the EU’s Intelligence Analysis Centre to gather information where required for the fulfilment of its tasks.

Its initial mandate shall be 12 months from the date of its entry into operation, with the possibility of a review before the end of its period of validity.

“Our goal is to establish and launch this mission, Aspides, at the latest on the 19 February, I hope, and I’m sure, we will,” Josep Borrell, the bloc’s top diplomat said recently.

So far, five member states have publicly indicated they will participate in the mission: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy. Greece is expected to participate with the Hydra frigate.

In recent weeks, the dangers for shipping in the Red Sea region have increased dramatically, as Iranian-backed Houthi fighters have targeted commercial shipping with drone and missile attacks, as well as more brazen assaults by boat and helicopter.

Several Greek-owned vessels have been attacked by missiles suffering damage but no casualties.

The Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, have declared their backing for Hamas in its war with Israel. They say they are targeting commercial vessels with links to Israel.

Disruption of world trade
Much of the world’s oil and natural gas originates from the region, and the Red Sea is used to transport roughly fifteen percent of the world’s shipping traffic.

With Houthis attacking dozens of ships since the war in Gaza erupted, trade flows have been hit at a time when supply strains and low demand are putting pressure on prices globally.

There has been an “almost wholesale exodus” of larger container ships from the Red Sea and the adjoining Suez Canal, Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of shipping publication Lloyds List, told CNN.

Those ships, which ferry everything from trainers to mobile phones from manufacturers in Asia to customers in Europe, have been taking longer routes to avoid the area.

[KurtFF8]

Looks like Greece is embarrassing itself. What countries like Greece should be doing is joining in on blockading the regime in Israel until the genocide stops.

[noemon]

Looks like Greece is embarrassing itself.

Your anarcho-communist world view is the only embarassing thing here. Greece has vital interests in shipping as does the entire EU, when boats are made to circumnavigate Africa, this cascades into prices and inflation.

Besides this mission has no mandate to strike targets inside Yemen, it has a mandate to shoot down missiles from Yemen and to prevent piracy attempts.

What countries like Greece should be doing is joining in on blockading the regime in Israel until the genocide stops.

Like America you mean?

[JohnRawls]

Looks like Greece is embarrassing itself. What countries like Greece should be doing is joining in on blockading the regime in Israel until the genocide stops.

Yemen is being a dick by shooting at random vessels, well Houthis. How is this even hurting Israel? This is hurting Egypt the most probably, a fellow Muslim country. I understand the concept that Iran want higher oil prices and encourages Houthis to do this but in reality this doesn't help anyone. 95% Of the world population only get the negative consequences of this, including Yemen who get bombed rightfully so for this.

[wat0n]

The Houthi rebels attacked a Greek ship from that was sailing with Brazilian exports to Iran. They are completely out of control

https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-m ... 29cc020e9e

[KurtFF8]

Your anarcho-communist world view is the only embarassing thing here. Greece has vital interests in shipping as does the entire EU, when boats are made to circumnavigate Africa, this cascades into prices and inflation.

Besides this mission has no mandate to strike targets inside Yemen, it has a mandate to shoot down missiles from Yemen and to prevent piracy attempts.

Not sure where you get the idea that I am an "anarcho" anything.

And it's telling that Western countries and their apologists see shipping lanes as more important than stopping an ongoing genocide.

Like America you mean?

The United States does not have a blockade against Israel. Quite the opposite actually.

Yemen is being a dick by shooting at random vessels, well Houthis. How is this even hurting Israel? This is hurting Egypt the most probably, a fellow Muslim country. I understand the concept that Iran want higher oil prices and encourages Houthis to do this but in reality this doesn't help anyone. 95% Of the world population only get the negative consequences of this, including Yemen who get bombed rightfully so for this.

Their goal is to blockade Israel, a regime engaged in genocide.

[wat0n]

I guess that's why they attack ships headed for Iran

What the Houthis want is to take over Bab-el-Mandeb, based on their behavior.

[Deutschmania]

Surprisingly from Time Magazine

The U.S. Only Pretends to Want ‘Freedom of the Seas’ U.S. and U.K. forces have spent the last month attacking Houthi installations in Yemen, in the name of protecting the “freedom of navigation.” As one senior Biden Administration official explained: “The United States has carried a special and historic obligation to help protect and defend these arteries of global trade and commerce. And this action falls directly in line with that tradition.”

Such claims portray the U.S. as the guardian of free seas and defender of the liberal international order. But history complicates this narrative. Since World War II, American policymakers have subscribed to a definition of freedom of the seas that emphasizes U.S. military dominance and access to the world’s oceans for the U.S. fleet. In this militarized view of the concept, U.S. naval power not only depends on freedom of the seas, it’s deployed to defend it too. This understanding has had consequences. Rather than protecting the world’s oceans, American deployments abroad, in the name of freedom of the seas, have often escalated conflicts. And, instead of consistently advocating for a neutral and lofty principle, the U.S. has often defended it selectively. Nowhere is this clearer than Yemen. While the U.S. is risking escalation to eliminate a Yemeni blockade in the Red Sea, it supported a Saudi Arabian-led naval and economic blockade of Yemen beginning in 2015, with catastrophic consequences.

Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, U.S. officials understood freedom of the seas quite differently — as a concept protecting the movement of U.S. shipping in wartime. This definition expanded after World War I, when President Woodrow Wilson began to interpret freedom of the seas as a building block of a new liberal international order that would ensure access to global markets and bring about world peace. He envisioned the League of Nations as a potential collective security force keeping the world’s oceans free for commerce, with the U.S. as an increasingly important beneficiary.... The current situation in the Middle East is emblematic of this vision: when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin launched Operation Prosperity Guardian, the first U.S.-led response to Houthi attacks on commercial ships, he argued that the Houthi escalation threatened “the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners, and violates international law.” But the U.S. has accepted its ally, Israel, maintaining a unilateral naval blockade of Gaza for the past 16 years. Now the U.S.’s selective and militarized version of freedom of the seas risks escalating the conflict further. Airstrikes against the Houthis are unlikely to eliminate the threat to shipping in the Red Sea and may instead strengthen the Houthis’ position in Yemen. And the U.S has diplomatic avenues available that it could pursue. But to do so, American policymakers will need to reconsider their longstanding definition of freedom of the seas and give up their vision of the U.S. as the world’s naval policeman. https://time.com/6694506/us-navy-houthis-freedom-of-seas/

Is Europe the Main Goal behind the Anglo-Saxon Aggression on Yemen?
The US, along with the UK, are launching a military aggression against Yemen. The stated goal is to “protect navigation in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks”. There are those who say that among the goals is also to reduce pressure on the Zionist entity, especially with regard to its foreign trade, which has been damaged by Yemeni activity in the Red Sea.

Yemeni pro-Palestinian activity in the Red Sea, contrary to American lies, did not pose any threat to international shipping traffic, but rather was limited to navigation that is directly “Israeli” navigation or owned by “Israelis”. The behavior of the major shipping companies, the Chinese ones in particular, indicates that they are convinced of this, which led them to continue their voyages normally and without fear. At the same time, what has disrupted and is disrupting part of their voyages through the Red Sea is the militarization thereof by the Americans, in parallel with Western marine insurance companies, especially British ones, unjustifiably increasing insurance prices. These companies have also reduced insurance for voyages that go around the Cape of Good Hope. All this has reduced the rates of passage through the Red Sea.

The real outcome of the American aggression, and before it the formation of the “Operation Prosperity Guardian” coalition (to which Kassioun Research Unit previously devoted an article (Arabic)), is the disruption of maritime navigation through the Red Sea. Not only the navigation related to the Zionist entity, which is minute compared to the volume of trade through the Red Sea, but also the complete disruption of maritime navigation through the Red Sea. In parallel, there has continued and continues to be a sharp rise in sea freight rates and marine insurance rates. This ultimately means a significant rise in the prices of goods; but which goods? The bulk of trade through the Red Sea is goods coming from East Asia, especially China and India, towards Europe.

Let us recall the Ukrainian crisis, which Washington worked on detonating for a long time, and after its detonation worked and is working to sustain and prolong, and implicate Europe therein, especially through sanctions on Russia and the bombing of gas transmission lines. All of this led to a wave of inflation throughout Europe, a decline in industrial production, and the start of a migration of capital and factories. As an example, the German crisis, which is just beginning to crystallize, with a decline of 4.8% in the volume of industrial production over one year, and with a decline from fifth place internationally to sixth place in gross domestic product in purchasing power parity, to be replaced by Russia, this German crisis is perhaps a concrete example of what is happening in Europe and what the next few years promise.

With the interruption of the supply of cheap energy from Russia to Europe, the latter has become a market for American liquefied gas. We can now extrapolate that artificially raising the costs of transporting goods from East Asia towards Europe would also open up for Americans markets for American goods, other than energy.

Within the major inflationary crisis that the US dollar is experiencing, and with it the ruling of the elite that dominates its issuance, and through it dominates an essential part of international trade, the crisis is best expressed by the giant debt pyramid that continues to grow and inflate at record speeds. Within this crisis, it becomes possibly understandable that the US, before its inability to seize control of Russia and China from within or from outside, and its subsequent inability to prevent the progress of their joint project for an alternative global order in which the password is the elimination of the dollar, it becomes understandable that swallowing Europe, with its capabilities, wealth, and industries, to commodify part of the inflated dollar has become an urgent need for the Americans. This is especially so since the euro is the historical reserve that is closest to the Americans’ reach by virtue of their long-term control in Europe, which has been worked on day by day since the “Cold War” began and with it the Marshall Plans to reconstruct – and restraint – Europe.

Within this scenario, we can go an additional step forward within the framework of making assumptions. What we mean exactly is that it is not unlikely that it will be among Washington’s strategies in the coming years, not only the dismantling and ending of the EU (and this explains, at least partially, Britain’s exit therefrom), but also, implicitly, ending the euro, and establishing the dollar as the currency in Europe. This becomes more realistic the more Europe’s commercial connection with the US increases, starting with agricultural markets to the giant companies that control seeds and fertilizers, as well as energy and technology. When Europe’s neck becomes completely in the US’ grip, the destruction of the euro and the supremacy of the dollar in its place, will be a matter of fact. https://kassioun.org/en/articles/item/79446-is-europe-the-main-goal-behind-the-anglo-saxon-aggression-on-yemen

[late]

A war could pollute the red sea with ammo and mines for decades.

The Northern Corridor over Russia and Arctic would become an alternative in summer.

And Chinas "Belt and Road" program could play a role in transport of goods.

For the Houtis is the trouble with the West, politicaly positive because their former enemies unite behind them, in Yemen.

The Houthis don't have mine layers, or mines, that I know of. Iran doesn't want a war there, since it would interrupt their oil exports.

Maybe, they seem to be heading south, taking that long way around for now. A number of nations are gearing up to suppress the Houthi. That might work.

Xi has backed away from it's Belt and Road programs, exception being Pakistan (cause India's next door). Their existing plan is to ship oil by sea, hard to say if or when that ramps up to the point where it's important.

They will gain brownie points, but it's a double edged sword for Iran. They love it when we get harassed, but their port, where they export oil, also goes through the same water. That's going to limit their support of the Houthi.

Demand for oil is inelastic. If you need to get to work, you aren't going to wait a week for oil to show up. Shipping is already diverting to safer routes. But the Houthi are limited in what they can do, and the Western navies are gearing up to suppress them.

Which means they don't have to be very successful to damage the global economy, but their ability to disrupt is limited.

I'm inclined to think they don't have what it takes, but if they get lucky, I'll have egg on my face.

[Rancid]

The anti-imperialist left is underwriting institutionalized antisemitism and Iranian imperialism, then.

Much like the American right, the American Left doesn't know its head form its ass.

[skinster]

Ansar Allah are fucking badass and one of maybe two states upholding the Genocide Convention by saying NO to business as usual for the Zionist entity.

They're also not doing anything illegal. They control that bab al-mandab strait so can decide what goes in and out.

Saudis had a naval blockade against Yemenis for their 7/8 year war on the country but I didn't see people like the usual suspects here, crying about that.

Anyway, this is very good and the blockade is working well, despite British and US ships repeatedly trying to violate the blockade. A British ship sunk this weekend...

The anti-imperialist left is underwriting institutionalized antisemitism and Iranian imperialism, then.

Wrong and wrong....again. How typical of the hasbarists.

Greece has vital interests in shipping as does the entire EU, when boats are made to circumnavigate Africa, this cascades into prices and inflation.

Ansar Allah are specific on their blockade being against Israeli ships and since the US/UK attacks, ships linked to these two states. Thousands of ships pass through it every week and those not linked to the state committing genocide right now, have no issues..

[wat0n]

What is the Houthis' motto again, @skinster?

[skinster]

They're called Ansar Allah and they're based AF.

I think you're trying to be a smart-ass about the section that says "Curse the Jews" amongst their excellent motto. That is quite clearly in reference to Israel, which loves to call itself the "Jewish state". Who knew that would result in consequences....

History will absolve the Yemenis. It already is across the world. In Western states at the Palestine demos they're chanting in defence of them:

"Yemen, Yemen, stand your ground,
Turn another ship around
Yemen, Yemen, make us proud,
Turn another ship around"

[wat0n]

If their only problem is with Israel, why did the Houthis jail Levi Marhabi, aka the last remaining Jew in Yemen?

[skinster]

[skinster]

The excellent blockade continues.


Yemenis celebrate the sacrifice of Aaron Bushnell.

[skinster]

[Rich]

Frankly I see no more wrong saying "Curse the Jews" than saying "curse the Russians". I see no more wrong with calling the Jaws inhuman devils than calling the Russians sub human Asiatic orcs. I'm not interested in the Liberal whinings about the racism of others until we get a full apology from the Liberals for the last two years of anti Russian racist abuse.

I do however support the destruction of the Houthis including a ground invasion, because they have violated international sea lanes.