by John Konrad (gCaptain) The Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest and most strategically vital waterways, has become so hazardous that even the German Navy is steering clear. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’s decision to redirect the frigate Baden-Württemberg and support vessel Frankfurt am Main around the Cape of Good Hope on their return from an Indo-Pacific deployment speaks volumes. The Red Sea is now deemed too perilous, underscoring just how ineffective current U.S. and EU naval protections are in this region.
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The broader question is even more stark: If NATO cannot send warships to face the Houthis, how will it possibly survive in a war against a larger adversary like China?
Red Sea Is Now So Dangerous Even NATO Warships Are Avoiding It
Tag: Cape of Good Hope
The Red Sea Crisis Proves China Was Ahead of the Curve
The Belt and Road Initiative wasn’t a sinister plot. It was a blueprint for what every nation needs in an age of uncertainty and disruption.
The Red Sea Crisis Proves China Was Ahead of the Curve (archived)
US Merchant Marine Sailors Were Target Of Houthi Attack + World War II Combat Tactics Return To The Red Sea
BREAKING Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the Iranian-backed militants fired a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones at a U.S. flagged ship manned by US Merchant Marine sailors who were “providing support” to Israel. No update yet from the head of the US Merchant Marine, DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
US Merchant Marine Sailors Were Target Of Houthi Attack
H/T: What is Going on With Shipping?
Related:
Greyhound Day: World War II Combat Tactics Return To The Red Sea
What is clear is that the US military has repeatedly warned ship owners and officers against sharing information with journalists, Wall Street analysts, and supply chain experts. While journalists and supply chains may be under-reporting the issue, ship owners are sharing more alarming stories among themselves. This information asymmetry could lead to more ships avoiding the region, while freight forwarders, cargo brokers, and other professionals further down the supply chain may be unprepared for the full extent of the delays.
Pentagon’s Operation Prosperity Guardian “Falls Apart” As Spain, Italy, France Reject Request
Australia is the latest country to reject a request from the United States to send warships to the Red Sea under the command of the Pentagon’s Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect commercial vessels along the critical maritime trade route from Iran-backed Houthi.
Pentagon’s Operation Prosperity Guardian “Falls Apart” As Spain, Italy, France Reject Request
H/T: Unorthodox Truth
Previously:
Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War
The US Build-Up for War with China
– Visit by US Secretary of State attempts to portray the US as “reasonable” versus a “belligerent” Chinese “dictatorship;”
– Secretary Blinken recited the US “One China” policy, omitting the many ways the US has and still is blatantly violating it and provoking China;
– US strategy follows similar pattern of the US “reset” with Russia or the US-Iran “nuclear deal,” where the US sought to appear to have exhausted diplomatic options before moving on “reluctantly” to economic sanctions and war;
– Such a strategy is necessary for consensus building among US allies who would otherwise be hesitant to join the US in both economic sanctions and eventual military intervention versus China;
– US policymakers are already busy planning sanctions against China, which includes an already ongoing public relations campaign to sell Russia-style sanctions against China, as well as preparations for military operations to follow the sanctions;
– The US has a long-standing strategy to encircle and contain China spanning decades, indifferent to presidential administrations;
References:
Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War (Rumble) via The New Atlas
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 