Yemen, Yemen make us proud, turn another ship around!

yup

Eh?

Thank you. A flick around tells me that War Nerd is a wholly biased, unreliable source. The War Nerd X feed says it all. Standard anti-Israel, pro-Russia stuff. Whatever opposes the US basically.

Apparently even New Republic called WN part of the ‘dirtbag left’.

I’ll stick with Reuters.

Iran does control the Houthis. HTH.

Geopolitics and worldly journalist John Dolan (who was fired or kicked out of a couple places for talking about ongoing war crimes, like in the KSA and East Timor), along with various guests who specialise in foreign affairs and military matters. The podcast plays in the browser, no need for an app on mobile or desktop, though I definitely recommend the previous episodes all the way back to 2015 when they probably had mentions of the things the US and UK were helping the Saudi military with in that region.

That Reuters article talks of the US thinking China has some ability to leverage Iran against Yemen. This is the US flailing ineffectually, because as we have seen, there is no leverage. The US admitted only this past week that the air strikes are not doing anything, but they'll keep on doing them anyway. If that isn't the indicator of headless chickenness of the US losing control, I dread to think what would.

Afghanistan falling to the Taliban again can be seen as the sundowning of the US interests in that region. Blood was in the water then, and it's kind of shocking how fast things are unfolding. I figured it'd be a 50 year decline, and yet here we are, barely a couple years later and stuff is falling apart with Iraq and Syria withdrawal now being on the table. That was totally not a thing before these events.

EDIT: Interesting thing, The Radio War Nerd podcast mentioned things last year that are now fact in terms of the Ukraine conflict that another podcast I listen to, War on the Rocks, didn't raise or considered unlikely, such as shell hunger, Russia gaining ground and the US losing interest after the failed counteroffensive. They also talked about Taiwan and what's the deal there (not much).

All opinion i've seen (BBC etc) says that Iran does not control the Houthis. They suppy them and are on the same side, but don't control them. So sideways influence rather than top down.

What is that podcast, by the way? I needed an app so didn’t bother. Who produces it and who’s on it?

You could get them to talk to the Chinese too.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-presses-iran-rein-houthi-attacks-red-sea-sources-say-2024-01-26/#:~:text=The%20Houthis%2C%20who%20first%20emerged,Israel%20%22Axis%20of%20Resistance%22.

I was thinking more that if western ships have to go round (at the extra cost of +£1 million) and Chinese ships can go through, companies will stop using the western shipping companies and choose Chinese owned ships (capacity allowing). Western shipping companies go bankrupt, leaving international trade dependant on Chinese shipping companies. UK/US interests wouldn't like this so bomb Yemen to try to protect western shipping businesses?

Well, that's me told.

But no, you're wrong. I'll let the podcast from people who lived there and reported on the war before you suddenly became an expert, tell you why you're wrong instead.

Yes it does.

Iran does not control the Houthis. Hope that helps.

@Kendodd China has no issues getting their shipping through for the most part. Check any of the ship tracker sites or apps and you'll see that anyone not serving Israel or with ties to the US and now the UK, can get stuff through. You're right, though. China has no issues with charging more to ship if they have to take the long way round. And as I hear, Biden has asked China to step in because America can't unfuck the situation they helped exacerbate. That's kinda embarrassing.

I did think, initially, why isn't China doing anything, after all it's all their crap on those ships (I know it's oil, gas and food as well before somebody points it out). Maybe China sees an economic opportunity if western ships are taken out though so is quite happy with the situation?

I’d guess that Iran - whose hand operates the Houthi puppet and provides intelligence to the Houthis on ships coming through the zone - is in bed with China.

But I’m sure that a wicked capitalist plot, no doubt controlled by Jews, can be conjured up as needed.

You'll notice how quickly Operation Prosperity Guardian came about when goods were being attacked and how very little sleep was lost over bombing 2.5 million people incessantly for three months.

People not getting their Temu and Amazon niknaks is a threat to the First World. It's simply not on that we delay those shipments, so a little air campaign against the poorest nation in the area is the solution.

Perhaps knowledgeable people could answer something about these attacks on shipping. I don't think the UK should be bombing Yemen and don't see what it will achieve, but that's another story anyway. I think the ships should just go the long way around, so what if it costs more. As I understand it, Chinese ships are not being attacked, its just western owned ships (?) Could one reason the UK/US are 'defending' shipping because they don't want Chinese shipping companies, who can travel this sea safely and therefore much more cheaply, sucking up all the business and putting western shipping companies at risk of bankruptcy?

What was it?

@Papyrophile What constitutes a comprehensive knowledge since you appear to be some kind of scholar of the subject? Should they visit 90% of the region? 50%? Perhaps counter their point, not what you consider a nitpick on their validity.

Lotta people never been to Russia or Israel, yet seemingly everyone is an expert on them now. Opinions are like...

Probably @Blakwaterpark but I must have missed that bit! It irked me that the poster claimed to know all about ME politics having only really travelled in Turkey and Cyprus.

You mean the one with the ableist slur in it?

I didn't think that post was sufficiently contentious to be censored! Wrong-headed definitely, and biased, but still..........

Anyway..back to the thread subject..

@SamFisherman I take it that you have spent a great deal of time in the ME? Travelled widely?

I don't think most of the Gulf-facing states consider themselves US vassals.

The US may well be losing the will to be the world's police, but behind Iran stand Russia and China who are rubbing their hands in glee at the disinformation and disorder the IRGC is fomenting. I can't pretend it doesn't worry me.

There’s a loss of power on the periphery, something you may hear about more in regards to Iraq where the US has categorically said no to any request by them to leave. Hence you’re now seeing more attacks on US bases there.

The US is also looking to pull out of Syria because they’re getting overwhelmed, and the likes of the KSA do not condone the US kicking the hornet’s nest in Yemen. Not after they can easily take out major fields and refineries. The UK and US throwing some Tomahawks at the Houthis changes absolutely nothing. Biden even admitted as much, since his senility has managed to compromise his ability to avoid saying the quiet part out loud.

Israel is flat out ignoring what Biden says either way. Bibi hasn’t talked directly to Biden since December, last I checked. Which means the Israelis can do what the fuck they want. Even Nixon and Reagan told them to get back in line in previous hostilities.

If we're talking refugees, then yes, absolutely that. Why should any other nation have to take in Palestinians at all? For one thing, places like Egypt literally couldn't house them without literal civil war, and second of all, that is the dictionary definition of ethnic cleansing. I believe we usually prosecute nations that do that.

And two things can be true at the same time. Strange, I know. Five of the most interventionist powers in the ME are US backed. Out of the major players, only Iran is naturally (nowadays) not party to US actions. Qatar, Turkey, UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia are all vassals of US power in the region and have been part of, or supported military actions in the region. Iran is active too, with their own interests of course, though in the case of the Houthis and Hamas, they are not exact proxies. The Yemeni, if you know anything of their history, are absolutely no one's war dog and do their own thing, have done since the Ottomans found how easy it is to lose soldiers over there. Hamas are so in the pocket of Iran, that we got reports about how the IRGC were pissed the 7th October attacks happened without any word on what they were planning.