Navigating Chaos - Why Are the Houthi Attacking, and Why Doesn't the US Respond? 

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Minor correction: Operation Praying Mantis was launched after a US frigate struck an Iranian mine. The USS Stark was hit by Iraqi missiles as part of the Tanker War but wasn’t the cause of Praying Mantis.

Well, as @wgowshipping pointed out, protecting merchant ships is the task of the nation under which flag the merchant ship is sailing. With the emergence and widespread adoption of flags of convenience, this is mainly a task for Panama, Honduras, Cyprus, the Marshal Islands and others. They don't have the capacity to do anything, so nothing will happen. The US didn't intervene in the tanker wars until one participants merchant marine chose to register their entire fleet in the US. Egypt has a legitimate interest in fighting the Houthi's blockade of their main tax income. Maybe they do something, Saudi-Arabia is involved in the war in Yemen already, they may be willing to offer the necessary land for forward bases. For all others, it's a war the Houthis fight on all international trade between Asia and Europe, so if they all grow tired, China and the Europeans might intervene, but it will need to be in an "Operation Yemen Freedom" style.

"why doesn't the US respond?" because it's election season, and getting into another middle-east forever war doesn't get you re-elected

One thing that I think you failed to mention is that back in late 80s Iran didn't have close to what they have now in terms of ballistic missile capability to be able to take on a fight. Situation is quite different now with regards to number of anti-ship missiles stationed, and available arsenal.

8:25 Hah, wow, you actually put in the work to find 50+ prev. launch sites, bravo. That's the kind of value-added, beyond a concise summary, that I come to your channel for. Thank you. I'm pretty confident that the US has communicated its red lines to the Houthis, official or back channels. An attack on a US merchant or Navy ship would most likely earn the Houthis a proportional response, probably on a fixed target they value, since you can pick them in advance and don't have to worry about fast relocation and a moving target. I think the US currently prefers to avoid a fight if possible, so up to a point, trashing a couple dozen SM-6's is just the cost of business. I'm not an expert on shipping P&C insurance, but the vibe I get is that the current risk premium from the attacks isn't all that material; could change if it gets bad/long enough. Edit: I'd bet Iran is giving the Houthis something to make these attacks worthwhile. All else equal, it's really against their interests to rock the boat, so they must be getting paid. On their own I'm sure they'd prefer to consolidate their power and/or finish off internal enemies.

I remember the tanker wars. At 7:15 I believe that Perry class FFG was USS Stark, which was actually hit by Iraqi Exocet missiles when the west was still supporting Saddam’s regime against Iran in the years prior to his invasion of Kuwait. I joined the RAN in 1988 and we learned a lot of lessons from that, the Iranian airliner that had been shot down by the US CG, and Britain’s losses in the Falklands just 6 years before. A few days ago it was revealed in the media here that the US has asked Australia to deploy a warship to assist near Yemen. I only see one class being used, the Hobart class DDGs as they are AEGIS equipped air warfare destroyers and can operate seamlessly with the USN. We only have three of them though…

This might be a little morbid, but could you check millitary cemeteries the same way you checked vehicle storage ?

Regarding the tanker escort missions in the 80s, didn't that involve the tankers being American flagged to legitimize our defense of them?

thanks. i need that clarity. just when i am stumped u release a vid. and i get the big pic. thanks again for all your work. merry xmas all. happy new year.

They would probably go after something that's easier to see and hit than a mobile missile launcher. You fire at a ship, we fire at a base. Probably call it a "command and control center for coordinating missile strikes."

I feel it's important to note that one result of the Tanker Wars was the US Navy putting the Iranian Navy almost entirely on the seafloor.

Great work once again!!!!!

“Even the US doesn’t have any conventional weapons that can reach 2,000 km on their own”… Tomahawk Cruise Missile range is 2,500 km. The AGM-86 range is 2,500 km. 🤷‍♂️

As always, thanks man!

My guess is nobody really wants to get involved in another bughunt.

We can't reach Israel with these missles. They're not pointy enough. ~Admiral General Aladeen

Question: How does nuclear capable Wadiya fit in the grand scheme of things?

The shipping affected by the Houthie attacks are largely moving between Asia and Europe. The owners of these ships take advantage of the open registry paying no taxes to support the navies that they want to defend them. The US Navy does escort US flagged vessels in the area. Let navies from the affected countries in Europe and Asia mobilize to defend the shipping at risk.

The big difference now is the one in office. He's either on holiday, sleeping, on heavy medicines or calling everyone he doesn't agree with a racist

The LRHW is currently in active service with the US Army and has a range of 1725 miles which is more than 2000 km. And yes it's conventional.

Thanks!

How many lists do you think you're on after purchasing those satellite images of US military bases.

Isn’t Saudi Arabia supposed to be Fighting with the Huthis ? 😅

I like video. Great thoughts

Long gone are the days of US a collapsing empire still singing its old songs

Bad luck to release this two days before they announced Operation Prosperity Guardian.

One complication not covered in this video is that a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, are currently engaged in fighting the Houthis. It is likely that the US has been waiting for these countries to give them the go-ahead to get involved. That would explain the delay.

Yemen has been a disaster for decades. The Egyptians were there in the 60's and used chemical weapons, then they had a series of civil wars, coups, and no stability. The Iranians are using that place as a strategic nightmare because of the location of where the Houthi's control in Yemen being on a major shipping route. This issue has been made worse with the Saudi failure to affect the civil war, and with the Saudi's committing war crimes there on several occasions only gives the Houthi more ammunition to get recruits and support from anti Saudi factions. The US and Israel butting in on the situation only makes the issue worse because the majority of factions there hate them even more than they hate the Saudis.

Hi Cabal, welcome to the water.

Once again showing the effectiveness of tunnels. This is how PKK has lasted so long, I watched a video where they had electronic metal doors thag come up like that Houthi one. They are cheap and easily to build missile silos.

Can you please provide an example where shipd attacked did not have any stoppage in Israel or any tie with Israel? I saw today, they claimed they are not attacking any non -Israeli international ship that does not have any stoppage in Israel.

Since ukrainian air bases are attacked on daily basis, could you possibly analyse the damage caused by the strikes using data from the sattelites. Would be interesting to see how effective those attacks are

Still listening to Handel’s ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ 🎉🎉🎉

RU-vid doesn't show your videos until days later...

4:18 don’t forget Saudi interceptors as well, they’re the Houthis’ primary antagonist

Τhe real reason is that the avengers justice league x men are on strike

It has been said before, but thank you for buying those satellite images.

he's right. i dont own a ship at sea. wish i did tho

Things change

The big problem inflation so hard figth missile cost so much build

*6:27** not yet*

Seems to be technical in nature as USS Carney has shot down two drones (much slower) and given chase to a second attempted hijack and run them off. The missiles come from Yemen straight at ships off shore with a flight time of seconds and unless Carney is in between the launch site and the target it can’t intercept in time. I believe their ROE gives them freedom to act to defend international shipping in international waters.

I didn’t think Egypt got any revenue from that canal

The video is wrong at 4:28ish. The US Tomahawk Cruise missile has a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles).

A campaign against the Houthis would not focus solely on its missile launch capabilities.

I look forward to your video on the massive failure that was the AFU's much vaunted counter-offensive, the one where they failed to breach the screening lines.

@CovertCabal why haven't you done a video on the war between Israel and Hamas..

Maybe Japan called deps....

A small element of Saudi Arabia are very sensitive about any non-muslims who enter the peninsula. American presence in Saudi Arabia was one of the things that incensed Osama. Saudi Arabia themselves don't want the Americans to intervene too hard because of that domestic political element.

No justice, no peace... no cheap presents under your xmas trees.

This guy should list a buymeacoffee address on his screen at the beginning.

what??? VPN what's that got to do with shipping?

Chinese ships have gotten hit yet China hasn't done anything and it has a naval base in Djibouti. China even ignored Chinese ships requesting assistance.

all know is all you get for this is the people who are already enlisted. No one is going to show up if you do a draft.

The big losser here is Egypt. And maybe Yemen, as Ironically, they're the most reliant on Red Sea Trade for their basic necessities of any country.

Good video!! The reason is Iran showing USA that they can escalate this many levels. It is also to make internal preassure on current administration to force them to react, and further weaken it by trying to drag them into a long worn out conflict with Iran. Remember Irans regime is very fragile at the moment and need all the distactions it can from the very unpopular regime at the moment. And the Houtis, they are just an extension of Iran, same as Hamas had not made this attack without a OK from Iran.

My question is why is this on America? Why not ask why doesn’t the UK or France respond? Tired of us taking ALL the heat for supporting israel. I don’t even get why we support them the way we do in the first place and not a country like Jordan instead.

THE IRONY .... The US just evaporated the latest attack.

We invaded Iraq for less than

"Skyrim belongs to the Nords!"

Operation Prosperity Guardian 2 days later lmao

I've wondered why the slow response. Im not sure i think US couldnt SEVERELY damage Houthi command and control as well as make leaders pay a HUGE price. But even Saudi is asking the US to hold back; so whats going on?

Countries are ganging up to fight the bully. 😂😂😂😂😂

Well well well...

Covert kabal , has a side , he is not reporting , but advocating for one side

The USA could, but the rest of the world has their own ships. Someone else can deal with it since the USA is not nearly as bothered as Europe. Europe/ France/ Spain/ Italy have ships that can get the job done, they just need to put on their big boy pants and get it done.

Good report but sadly failed to report Houthis war on Saudi Arabia, where Houthis drones, cruise missiles , ballistic missiles were able breech Saudi's world class multi-billion dollar air defense 🧐systems.

welp, US just sent in the SEALs apparently

Thank you for using civilized units.

Because what’s the point?

The U.S. does have missiles with a 2000 km range.

funny that you didnt say whythey are doing it

I’d imagine if they touch one of the US ships it’s all done for them.

Yemen goes bum!

Bro, the US just roasted 10 yemeni fishermen on their own waters.. will you upload an update to this video ?? Just out of respect for Yemen and its 10 fathers who now lay at the bottom of the Red Sea? They have names too, and also families back in Yemen now mourning. Pretty sure that was the Americans right?

It’s because Jake Sullivan is so terrified all the time

the narrator only briefly referenced the economic impact this is having on egypt. israel doesn't care about lost traffic through the canal.

Why not? Look no farther than JB & Co. thanks Jim S

just ignore it, they'll get bored and stop...

Durka durka

The Answer is simple…US can’t risk an escalation…Iran, Hoiuthi, Hisbullahi and all are not the 1980s military….Everyone has something that could surprise big powers

What would Thomas Jefferson do??

They are like a kid that kicks of having a tantrum just for a little bit of attention

I'm not sure what exactly you mean when you say "conventional weapons" at about 4:28, but you're dead wrong about that. The US has a ...range... of missile ranges, with the furthest range ICBM, the Minuteman III, capable of traveling 13,000 km.

incidents insidents

because most of US trade to EU dont pass there...

USN not doin , cos they gonna be out of missles just half way. And replenishing it is pain in the butt.. billions wasted to intercept cheap cruise missles.. LoL.

The problem sure seems like Iran.

Angering China, U.S., Europe, and Egypt is not a good idea.

The US better do sumthin

2023 : No sir 😤 we ain't going to war again in the Middle East. Let someone else go do it ! 2024 : US Marines are storming the Yemeni beaches on behalve of their most important ally 😅

I don't know Houthi believe in all this

The Ballistic missile fired by Houthis targetting Israel was flying 100000 km above sea level that was intercepted by Israel's arrow 3 missile interceptor in space 🌌 The Houthis are literally Yemen's military

The houthi flag doesnt say death to jewish people, it says death to "ale yahood," which is a reference to "ale saud", which is the saudi royal family. basically the flag says down with america, israel and saudi. I think it is important to be accurate here because of people just saying they are only antisemitic and just hate jews, which is incorrect.

if they don't register their ship under USA, so they don't get protection from USN fair and simple i bet those ship registered under Panama or Cayman island, then call them for protection 😂

This doesn't mention that fact the it is also Yemen that is seizing ships. Not just the Iranian back Houthis. Yemen released footage of their special forces seizing and Israeli ship. A week later the US released a statement saying the ship was not occupied, they encountered no resistance and they are not sure who took the vessel or what cargo was taken. Seams off that the US would release a press statement claiming a mystery but Yemen filmed the whole thing. Either something was on that ship that the US doesn't want people to know about or the US is embarrassed by the event

✌️

Military: "They have not yet Fucked Around enough to Find Out."

Why doesnt England, France, China, Australia, NATO, Saudia Arabia, Egypt stop em.