• Experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition aimed at protecting ships passing through the Red Sea, is failing.
• Iran-backed Houthis continue to attack commercial ships in Yemen, and shipping lines have not reopened the vital waterway.
• Brent Sadler, a senior researcher in naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation, told DCNF that the Houthis are unlikely to stop their attacks until a “real price” is imposed on the rebels.

Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational force the Pentagon announced Dec. 18 to protect ships from attacks from Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, is failing, experts say Daily Caller News Foundation told.

The government is increasingly nearing the point where it will no longer be able to withstand a constant barrage of drones and missiles by the Iran-backed Houthis, which is scaring shipping lines and handcuffing shipments through vital sea lanes, experts say. told DCNF. However, Houthi attacks and hijacking attempts are likely to continue until the war in Gaza ends or the US counterattacks.

“The Houthis are unaffected as they continue their attacks unabated,” Brent Sadler, a senior researcher in naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation, told DCNF, referring to Operation Prosperity Guardian. “And transportation continues to be disrupted, and to a growing extent.” (Related: Here's how many times the U.S. military has shot down drones and missiles launched by Iranian-backed groups since October)

The Houthis carried out 24 attacks against international shipping vessels. according to Go to Centcom. In an update on January 2nd, the US announced that three ballistic missiles had splashed into the waters near several commercial ships, but no damage had been caused.

“What exactly did the Select Committee accomplish? There are no clear steps toward deterrence, and nothing has changed in the Red Sea. Houthi attacks continue,” said a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Roger Wicker said. Saidreact to news on social media.

The Pentagon said Operation Prosperity Guardian was a “defense” task force aimed at reassuring commercial shipping companies that their cargo could safely pass through the Red Sea. Many will transit through the Suez Canal, while others will head to ports in Saudi Arabia or southern Israel.

“surgery prosperity guardian It was established to strengthen the deterrent presence in the Red Sea and to respond to and assist commercial shipping transiting this important international waterway. “This is a defense coalition aimed at reassuring maritime crews around the world that the international community is there to support safe navigation,” a defense spokesperson told DCNF.

The operation was difficult from the beginning.

Italy and Spain, originally included as partners in the U.S.-led defense coalition, appear to have distanced themselves from the operation in statements, but nearly half of the participants (presumably Arab states) have declined to publicly acknowledge their contributions. Reuters reported that he refused. report.French Ministry of Defense Said On December 19, it said in a statement that the frigate Languedoc, which had already shot down a Houthi drone, would remain in the area but would not submit the ship to American command.

And since that announcement, the United States has borne the brunt of the burden, shooting down ballistic missiles and attack drones aimed at both American warships and commercial ships. Union ships also offered Limited escort of merchant ships.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing Wednesday that U.S. military assets currently in the Red Sea include the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is carrying 130 aircraft and about 4,000 sailors and Marines. It said it included ships assigned to the strike group.

“As the president has made clear, the United States does not seek conflict with any country or entity in the Middle East. We also do not want the war between Israel and Hamas to escalate in the region,” Kirby said. . “But we will not shrink from our mission to protect ourselves, our interests, our partners, or the free flow of international commerce.”

As for what has changed since the coalition government was officially announced, Sadler said: “I don't see any noticeable changes.”

Also notable, he added, was the lack of “clear new diplomatic efforts to back it up.” The partners also do not coordinate sanctions against the Houthis and their financial networks.

Shipping giant Maersk has extended a suspension of shipping in the Red Sea, days after announcing preparations to resume operations. The changing outlook comes as the Houthis attacked the Singaporean-flagged, Danish-owned and operated Maersk Hanzou twice in a day, and exchanged gunfire with the Houthis in four small boats and a contracted security team on board. It happened after the battle ended and they shot alongside a US military helicopter. As a result, 10 attackers died.

Shipping costs are rising, causing delays in deliveries, Reuters reportFreitos newspaper reported. The cost of sending a 40-foot container on the Asia to Northern Europe route has doubled to $4,000, shipping from Asia to the Mediterranean can reach $6,000, and airlines are paying between $500 and $2,700 per container. Additional charges have been added.

Shipping costs to the east and west coasts of the United States have also more than doubled.

Suez Canal traffic fell by 70% in the last week of December. according to Data from Goldman shared by shipping and trade analysis group Merhelm. As of Wednesday, more than 180 container ships and other vessels had rerouted routes through the Cape of Good Hope, according to Reuters.tracker show Almost all arks avoided the Red Sea, choosing instead to take a long journey around southern Africa.

USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) conducts flight operations in the USCENTCOM AOR. pic.twitter.com/Bc3oID5mX5

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 3, 2024

Prosperity Guardians is hampered by “an opaque operational approach to common strategic objectives defined by its members.” [coalition] Sadler said there was a voluntary ban on the use of force against the Houthis, including attacks on launch sites in Yemen's Houthi-controlled areas.

Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said the Biden administration wants to avoid targeting the Houthis directly because of the rebels' struggling relationship with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. Examples include hesitation in sabotaging won peace negotiations. Near East Policy told DCNF. However, sometimes you don't have a choice.

the United States and partner countries including Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom; issued A strongly worded statement warned the Houthis that Wednesday's actions in the Red Sea would have unspecified “consequences,” hinting at possible retaliation. The extremists' actions are “illegal, unacceptable and deeply destabilizing,” the statement said.

“This statement is a desperate plea to the Houthis not to destroy the peace process and force the United States to attack them on land. The moment is drawing near, except for the United States. Houthi leadership “We can think of creative secret ways to inflict pain on people,” Knights told DCNF.

Biden administration national security leaders met Wednesday to flesh out military options to respond to Houthi attacks, but the president has not yet approved anything, NBC News reportsaid a person involved.

But the Houthis are unlikely to stop their attacks until they impose “real costs” on the rebels, Sadler said.

“The war in Gaza will end eventually, and the Houthis will probably stop then,” Knights said.

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