ANOTHER war. Anyone else feel terrified of what could come

[kuls938x]

Breaking news; UK signing off on air strikes against Yemen. Is this just going to get worse ?

Since having kids this honestly petrifies me. This world is a mess! I feel like it's one thing since another ever since Covid nothing has felt the same at all! Life before that almost feels completely different and a blur ! Anyone else?

@MumblesParty my point was I don’t think terrorists need an excuse, do you? And if they do their excuse is often the war on terror.

I don’t really understand the logic of not protecting maritime routes because someone might become a terrorist.

Turn off the news. Get on with your life. Dedicate yourself to what you can change not what you can't.

Yeah, the UK should kill people so you cam have cheaper petrol. Savage.

I thought Mumsnetters were meant to have a modicum of intelligence 🙄

My husbands military. Yes I'm worried for him.

Yemen has been at war (it seems) since the 1960s.

It's extremely sad but it's nothing new. Donate to an international charity if you can and try not to worry.

That's not what's happening though is it. There are some very dense posts on this thread.

We have given over a billion in aid in the past decade though. Sure its not the same; but there are rules in conflict.

These threads are always the same. People listen to whatever surface level drivel is being spouted on the BBC and come and regurgitate it without knowing any of them background.

Yemen has had some sort of (civil) war for decades. The Houthis have been one the most active groups attacking others in the last 10 years. They have practically been at war with Saudi Arabia for the whole time, with SA bombing the hell out Yemen with US support.

If the US wanted, the Houthis would have been wiped out 10 years ago. After all SA is one their big allies. But of course SA petro dollars are lucrative source of income for US defence contractors and arms industry. And the powerful political war lobby in the US always needs a ready made conflict on the conveyor belt ready for when the last one starts to fizzle out. Western taxpayers got rinsed for several trillion dollars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine. Now it’s Yemen.

The Houthis could be dealt with in days, but how would that help the defence lobby in an election year.

Here you go, people outside Parliament last week chanting

"Yemen, Yemen make us proud, how many ships have you turned around"

https://x.com/heidibachram/status/1743659899177910656?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

I agree ^^

I used to get myself so worked up and upset.

There's nothing I can do to stop anything.

Now I just distract and enjoy my life.

I am not dense. You have no idea how, or even if, I vote.

I already said that I have no idea how much of the cargo is essential - and I doubt anyone on MN does either.

I do think that transporting non essential goods half way around the world is a waste of resources, especially at a time of financial crisis.

I still find the timing of this military action questionable. Why is the UK getting involved now? Why this conflict? Why are we deciding to forge ahead whilst most other countries who will be just as impacted by attacks on trading routes are not?

@calimali You have it precisely right. Why are we getting involved at all?
There are some worryingly head-in-the sand attitudes on this thread. It’s as if nobody gives a second’s thought to history.

If reading the news leaves you feeling petrified then I would seriously recommend turning it off. That level of stress is bad for your health. Concentrate on your own life. I mean if you lived in Yemen then you might have a point.

Do you really want another energy shock similar to Russia Ukraine and see 15% again and all the hardship that goes with it? I doubt we have the resilience to give financial support as last time

@decisionssmecisions I wasn’t debating whether or not we should go to war, and whether we should allow fear of terrorism to affect that decision. I was simply making the point that we ARE affected by wars, even if they’re hundreds of miles away. Of course terrorist attacks occur in peace time, but they’re more likely to occur when we’re at war and are committing perceived injustices. I’m guessing the poster who said she’s not worried as it’ll have no affect on us, is too young to remember the kids who died in Lockerbie.

The trade route is affecting many many countries. Why is it only the Uk that has always got to follow behind the US?

The timing is because of the Houthi's timing.

They decided to be a sideshow in the Israel/Hamas conflict. They have been asked, presumably nicely, then not so nicely, then warned and now here we are.

The global economy cannot afford a major trade route to be endangered and to have ships kidnapped.

It's a major oil tanker route. You decide how essential that is, especially now in the middle of winter.

Something like 85% of UK manufactured weapons are for permanent export and only about 10% of that are military.
UK is in the top ten weapon manufacturers globally.
Got to have a steady stream of customers for a 70 billion pound industry.

Because it is profitable to do so.

We didn't start the fire?? What do you think supporting and enabling genocide is? Self defense?

I often wonder this. I seem to recall their bomber planes using the UK as an base when they bombed Libya. I suppose as a small vulnerable island, the UK has always felt it needed to have a big tough friend. Plus we probably signed some deal after they (belatedly) helped us in WW2.

Yes correct, it wont mean cheaper petrol, the reverse.

No amount of bombing (aside from all out war) will stop these attacks by the Houthis but what it will do is ensure more shipping companies travel via the 'cape as they wont be able to get insurance.

All it will do is escalate, the Houthis are experts at avoiding bombings.

The global economy cannot afford a major trade route to be endangered and to have ships kidnapped

If that were really true, you'd have seen much wider military involvement, maybe that will happen.

These Houthis attacks wont stop, so what then?

They can afford to fund genocide though

Interesting that noone suggests that the Houti terrorists or Hamas are the lapdogs of Iran.
It's always the UK and the US.

The shipping being attacked in the red sea is mostly coming from the far east. That means China. Why don't we encourage them to deal with the terrorists and states who are threatening to their trade and income from the west?