Posted on 12/31/2023 5:35:36 AM PST by Pox
US helicopters sank three boats carrying Houthi gunmen who attacked a container ship that was transiting the Red Sea, the US military said Sunday.
A US warship also shot down two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
It said that at 6:30 a.m. local time, the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and -operated container ship issued a second distress call after earlier reporting that it was hit by a missile.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
“a significant International problem that demands collective action”
United Nations? United in WHAT?
Think about it.. if the U.S. doesnt protect these container ships someone else will step in to do it. Better to pay the bill than let someone else do business in your place.
It’s still global commerce, with the majority of activity still held by the west.
Iran will continue to support their proxy terrorists.
Yep, then the insurance companies Jack the bill 400% to be passed on to all of us.
"Think about it." I have, thanks. The European Union, of which Denmark is a member, is 450 million people, while the US is 335 million, more or less. The A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S company is European conglomerate.
Mærsk says quite specifically: "Increasing complexity in global supply chains is making them inefficient, vulnerable and unsustainable. At Maersk, our strategic vision is to become the Global Integrator, offering truly integrated logistics solutions that connect, protect and simplify our customers’ supply chains."
Source: https://www.maersk.com/about
Mærsk does not say, but means, "our strategic vision is" to have someone else pay for -- "protect" -- our strategic vision.
Posit China replacing CENTCOM? That's one alternative among many. Here's another. The European Union replaces CENTCOM. Or at least does the actual military confrontation with US backup. But when the UN Navy provides the "muscle," and Europe is the backup, Mærsk is chuckling all the way to their Danish bank....
All around the world, taxpayers pay for their local police. Mostly around the world, American taxpayers are paying for many other nations' police, one way or another. And we're not actually paying the bill, but putting it on our nations credit card, which is shortly tipping over into $34 trillion in debt.
Personally, I'd like to see the Danish military fly their helicopters to confront the "boats." Or at least, the EU's military, of which the Danes are a part.
USN has been the de facto police force of the high seas and shipping lanes since the end of ww2.
Why are American taxpayers paying tens of millions of dollars to protect foreign flagged vessels?
killing the crews
—
this could be the start of a genocide as there are only 2,000 Hooties.
These aren’t American cargo ships.
—
The US only has a handful of ships.
99.99% of all the goods that come to the US are by container ships owned by various non-American shipping companies. one of the biggest is COSCO, owned by the CCP.
“Why would the U.S. even care?”
America has been at war against Muslim pirates since 1783.
IIRC-—There are a couple of CHOKE POINTS in that area, which if a large ship got SUNK-—would STOP all of that shipping route.
The USN mission statement does support freedom of the seas. As a USN veteran, I can assure you that one of the primary missions is keeping the seas open and free.
Mission Statement
The United States is a maritime nation, and the U.S. Navy protects America at sea. Alongside our allies and partners, we defend freedom, preserve economic prosperity, and keep the seas open and free. Our nation is engaged in long-term competition. To defend American interests around the globe, the U.S. Navy must remain prepared to execute our timeless role, as directed by Congress and the President.
https://www.navy.mil/About/Mission/
The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas.
Exactly. The US cannot survive without international trade. We consume a lot of stuff we do not produce here. It's been that way since our founding.
The world economy would be just fine without the delusions of grandeur espoused by some in the United States.
This is about the US protecting its racket, specifically the petro-dollar.
That’s exactly right. I haven’t even started reading the rest of the thread after your post, but I’m certain it will be littered with globalist slop.
Anyone who thinks it’s a strategic national interest for the U.S. to protect a Danish ship flying a flag of Singapore belongs in the same bathhouse as Joe Biden and Lindsey Graham.
Is marktwain the screen name for Lindsey Graham or Nikki Haley?
I did read the USN statement, having cited it to you when you first had cited the US Coast Guard statement. The nub of the issue is "American interests." Not all agree on what the phrase means, and how far into the world it extends.
As USN, that's great for you. I was a US Army type; great for me. Our 'credentials' have nothing to do with the issue. The issue is the question: who pays?
Specifically in this thread and case about Mærsk, who pays for the Mærsk announced "strategic vision" to "protect." Their actual stance is not their statement. Their actual stance is in large part, the US pays. And as a supposed part of CENTCOM, we are the front line folks, not the Europeans whose "action" is generally missing in these news items.
Unanswered: 1) From which country was this Mærsk cargo loaded? 2) To which country is the Mærsk cargo destined? 3) Where are the other European nations in this "action?" the first two remain not answered, while the last question about the Europeans is, as so often, "behind us."
If President Thomas Jefferson had dispatched the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean Sea and landed the Marines in Tripoli to protect Danish ships operating under the flag of Singapore transporting cargo from Asia to Europe, he would have been set on fire on the front lawn of Monticello.
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