The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

Where is the United States Navy?

Of course we have a powerful presence within striking distance of the 7th century savages currently attacking ships off of Yemen...right?

Wrong. Perhaps the various live maps available on the internet are incorrect, but they show no carrier presence anywhere near Yemen.

But our track record of failure is comprehensive, even when we have carriers available. The Houthis, supported and supplied by Iran, control commercial shipping moving through the Gulf of Aden by attacking with Iranian missiles and drones or their own rudimentary navy. And why is that important? Because it is the only route into and out of the Red Sea, which leads to the Suez Canal, which is sort of a big deal for world shipping.

We have funded and supplied the Saudi armed forces for many years, yet they are incapable of defeating Iran's proxies just over their southern border. Our 230 year old navy, one of whose primary missions is maintaining freedom of the seas, has been proven to be incapable of defeating a bunch of fanatics in small boats, and their Iranian masters' missiles.

And we don't seem to care!

The Houthis now rule the Red Sea: America has silently admitted defeat

If the US Navy cannot even lift a blockade by Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, the idea of lifting a blockade around Taiwan is a complete fantasy. If the US cannot compete with the arms production of Iran, then the notion of somehow out-competing China should be put to bed immediately.

But this is also why the Red Sea defeat will be met with silence. More than any other conflict raging today, it highlights the crisis within the West’s military organisation, as well as the fact that there is no real way to fix it. To admit our powerlessness is to admit that the era of Western hegemony is already over. Faced with little alternative, we will continue to let the Houthis blow up our ships — and then pretend that none of it really matters.

But the facts speak for themselves. We are losing control of one of the main trade routes because of Iran, and all of our vaunted high tech weaponry and overwhelming force has done nothing.

There are many issues contributing to our navy's inability to fight and win against a tiny opponent. The first is the ridiculous idea of proportionality. The answer to the Houthis should be the total destruction of their fighting ability, not the carefully titrated destruction of a goatherd's hut with a couple of AKs buried in the sand. The second is more serious...there is no political will to combat Iranian intransigence. In fact, a good portion of our current government is supportive of an ascendant Iran, hoping that it can act as a counterbalance to those difficult Jews in Israel.

Until we have an administration that takes seriously the threat to world commerce and the colonialist expansionism of Iran, the Houthis...and Hezbollah...and Hamas will continue to have success.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter]

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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