The ships in the Red Sea that are under attack do not seem to be associated with China. Coincidence? At the risk of soundling like a conspiracy theorist, I can't help but wonder if the attacks in Israel and now the Red Sea are part of some larger plan against the West. I wonder what's coming next.
Maybe at some point, probably not during this regime, we're going to have to send some ordinance downrange into Yemen to stop this stuff. I still think pirates should be hung.
Trying to get my thinking cells operating this morning....I can see three reasons why the PRC ship did not get involved in the piracy takedown. (1) Really, really did not want to get involved in something that could turn into a friendly fire accident. Friendly fire between US and Japan? Everyone writes it off as an accident and boards of inquiry are formed. (2) Unsure of themselves operationally and didn't want to embarrass their country. A variation on that could be that they have no doctrine for anti-piracy ops. A few years back, a PLA unit was part of a UN operation in Africa that went terribly wrong simply due to a lack of training; I'm sure the word is out to never, ever let that happen again. (3) The only reason the PLAN is on station is to gather intelligence and try to look like a concerned party.
If called upon to brief the situation, my personal choice would be #3 with a bit of #2 thrown in.
As I commented recently, are we ready to accept the global challenge of deployed PRC hulls if and when the ball drops in the SCS or Taiwan? There seems to be a mindset that such conflict will be confined to Asian waters. Certainly the PRC will want escort its Iranian oil if we try to interdict it (re: the merchie question)?
Aside from the geopolitical ramifications discussed in the article? Those of us with simple minds want to know, was this simple piracy or an act of war?
The Biden Administration should respond by taking some action against the Houthis across one of the DIME-C domains. If strikes against our forces go unanswered, Iran and her proxies will only escalate further.
What red-blooded Japanese girl could resist a dashing young sailor who's been FIGHTING PIRATES IN THE RED SEA? Talk about a romance that writes itself!
Having recently completed reading "Yangtze Patrol," by Kemp Tolley, Rear Admiral,USN ret., I see allot of similarity between the "river rats" of the old Asiatic Fleet and CTF-151. Good work by all of the various units involved. Just the rambling thoughts of an old hermit.
"I wonder what's coming next," Pete said. In view of the non-response to the Houthi's firing 2 ballistic missiles "at" the U.S. and Japanese ships the answer is "more of the same". Boggles my mind that what the Houthi's did was an act of war and all the people in charge saw fit to do was chuckle because they missed by 10 miles. There should have been a massive retaliation as soon as someone yelled "Counterbattery" or "Lookit what those Yemeni yahoos just did. They just tried to kill us." If all we can do is a tepid tap dance choreographed by a committee of clowns we might as well go home. Hollow words from CENTCOM: {“Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander. “We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.”} If CTF-151 has been battling piracy since 2009 we need to ask ourselves why we haven't won yet.
The Houthi rebels of Yemen have been at war with the Saudi backed government of Yemen for a very long time. The rebels are trained, funded and equipped by Iran. We very seldom hear of the Yemen civil war because no Israelis or Americans are involved. The ballistic missiles (possibly copies of Soviet Scuds) used very likely of Iranian origin. This is yet another front in the ongoing Iran-Israel war. Iran prefers to wage war with deniable and expendable proxies.
China of course is an ally of Iran, and in any event China cares only for Chinese interests. Which explains, but does not excuse, why Chinese warships ignored a distress call in international waters, which I believe is a violation of the common law of the sea. An administration that actually cared about such things would harshly and publicly criticize China for this. Don't hold your breath.
As for the frigate issue, anti piracy patrols sounds like the kind of duty the LCS should be capable of handling, but apparently not. The Constellation class frigates, once built and if they replace that 57mm pop gun with a real weapon; should be ideal for the anti piracy role, freeing up the valuable Burke class destroyers for more important duty. Oh, and pirates are common enemies of humanity, and once interrogated they should be immediately hanged and the missile launch points and port they operated from destroyed.
The ships in the Red Sea that are under attack do not seem to be associated with China. Coincidence? At the risk of soundling like a conspiracy theorist, I can't help but wonder if the attacks in Israel and now the Red Sea are part of some larger plan against the West. I wonder what's coming next.
Is it just me, or does the PLAN seem to operate from a playbook like the one the Soviet navy used a few decades back?
Stephen Decatur approved.
Maybe at some point, probably not during this regime, we're going to have to send some ordinance downrange into Yemen to stop this stuff. I still think pirates should be hung.
Trying to get my thinking cells operating this morning....I can see three reasons why the PRC ship did not get involved in the piracy takedown. (1) Really, really did not want to get involved in something that could turn into a friendly fire accident. Friendly fire between US and Japan? Everyone writes it off as an accident and boards of inquiry are formed. (2) Unsure of themselves operationally and didn't want to embarrass their country. A variation on that could be that they have no doctrine for anti-piracy ops. A few years back, a PLA unit was part of a UN operation in Africa that went terribly wrong simply due to a lack of training; I'm sure the word is out to never, ever let that happen again. (3) The only reason the PLAN is on station is to gather intelligence and try to look like a concerned party.
If called upon to brief the situation, my personal choice would be #3 with a bit of #2 thrown in.
As I commented recently, are we ready to accept the global challenge of deployed PRC hulls if and when the ball drops in the SCS or Taiwan? There seems to be a mindset that such conflict will be confined to Asian waters. Certainly the PRC will want escort its Iranian oil if we try to interdict it (re: the merchie question)?
Baron Kato Tomosaburo's dream of a Japanese-American naval alliance for global law and order on the high seas is now a reality.
Classic Scuds? or some Iranian variant? Chinese?
Aside from the geopolitical ramifications discussed in the article? Those of us with simple minds want to know, was this simple piracy or an act of war?
The Biden Administration should respond by taking some action against the Houthis across one of the DIME-C domains. If strikes against our forces go unanswered, Iran and her proxies will only escalate further.
Sounds like we're edging closer to a combined USMC/Special Naval Landing Infantry op in Yemen.
What red-blooded Japanese girl could resist a dashing young sailor who's been FIGHTING PIRATES IN THE RED SEA? Talk about a romance that writes itself!
Having recently completed reading "Yangtze Patrol," by Kemp Tolley, Rear Admiral,USN ret., I see allot of similarity between the "river rats" of the old Asiatic Fleet and CTF-151. Good work by all of the various units involved. Just the rambling thoughts of an old hermit.
"I wonder what's coming next," Pete said. In view of the non-response to the Houthi's firing 2 ballistic missiles "at" the U.S. and Japanese ships the answer is "more of the same". Boggles my mind that what the Houthi's did was an act of war and all the people in charge saw fit to do was chuckle because they missed by 10 miles. There should have been a massive retaliation as soon as someone yelled "Counterbattery" or "Lookit what those Yemeni yahoos just did. They just tried to kill us." If all we can do is a tepid tap dance choreographed by a committee of clowns we might as well go home. Hollow words from CENTCOM: {“Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander. “We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.”} If CTF-151 has been battling piracy since 2009 we need to ask ourselves why we haven't won yet.
"You can’t buy training like that."
We did buy it though, by freeing up those funds for Iran:)
The Houthi rebels of Yemen have been at war with the Saudi backed government of Yemen for a very long time. The rebels are trained, funded and equipped by Iran. We very seldom hear of the Yemen civil war because no Israelis or Americans are involved. The ballistic missiles (possibly copies of Soviet Scuds) used very likely of Iranian origin. This is yet another front in the ongoing Iran-Israel war. Iran prefers to wage war with deniable and expendable proxies.
China of course is an ally of Iran, and in any event China cares only for Chinese interests. Which explains, but does not excuse, why Chinese warships ignored a distress call in international waters, which I believe is a violation of the common law of the sea. An administration that actually cared about such things would harshly and publicly criticize China for this. Don't hold your breath.
As for the frigate issue, anti piracy patrols sounds like the kind of duty the LCS should be capable of handling, but apparently not. The Constellation class frigates, once built and if they replace that 57mm pop gun with a real weapon; should be ideal for the anti piracy role, freeing up the valuable Burke class destroyers for more important duty. Oh, and pirates are common enemies of humanity, and once interrogated they should be immediately hanged and the missile launch points and port they operated from destroyed.