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US Navy Struggles to Combat Houthi Rebels in the Red Sea Corridor

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6 months ago

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US Navy Struggles to Combat Houthi Rebels
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Brad Coope: Getty Images

The US Navy’s operation against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip, has become the Navy’s most intensive ongoing sea fight since World War II, according to Navy officers and experts.

The conflict confronts the Navy’s responsibility to keep international waterways open against a group whose old stockpile of assault rifles and pickup trucks has expanded into an almost limitless supply of drones, missiles, and other weaponry.

Since November, the Houthis have launched nearly daily strikes on more than 50 vessels, while shipping volume has plummeted in the critical Red Sea corridor that connects to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

The Houthis claim the attacks are intended to end the fighting in Gaza and help the Palestinians, despite the fact that they are also attempting to bolster their position in Yemen. All indications are that the conflict will escalate, placing US sailors, friends, and commercial boats at risk.

The U.S. Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, then later Russia and China, on the world’s waterways. But instead of a global power, the Navy finds itself locked in combat with a shadowy, Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen.

The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II, its leaders and experts told The Associated Press.

US Navy: Image AP

US Navy fighting Missiles and Drones

The combat pits the US Navy’s mission to keep international waterways open against a group whose former arsenal of assault rifles and pickup trucks has grown into a seemingly inexhaustible supply of drones, missiles and other weaponry.

Near-daily attacks by the Houthis since November have seen more than 50 vessels clearly targeted, while shipping volume has dropped in the vital Red Sea corridor that leads to the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean.

The Houthis say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war in Gaza and supporting the Palestinians, though it comes as they try to strengthen their position in Yemen. All signs suggest the warfare will intensify — putting U.S. sailors, their allies and commercial vessels at more risk.

“I don’t think people really understand just kind of how deadly serious it is what we’re doing and how under threat the ships continue to be,” Cmdr. Eric Blomberg with the USS Laboon told the AP on a visit to his warship on the Red Sea.

“We only have to get it wrong once,” he said. “The Houthis just have to get one through.”

The pace of the fire can be seen on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, where the paint around the hatches of its missile pods has been burned away from repeated launches. Its sailors sometimes have seconds to confirm a launch by the Houthis, confer with other ships and open fire on an incoming missile barrage that can move near or beyond the speed of sound.

“It is every single day, every single watch, and some of our ships have been out here for seven-plus months doing that,” said Capt. David Wroe, the commodore overseeing the guided missile destroyers.

One round of fire on Jan. 9 saw the Laboon, other vessels and F/A-18s from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower shoot down 18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis.

Nearly every day — aside from a slowdown during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan — the Houthis launch missiles, drones or some other type of attack in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the waterways and separates Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.

The Navy saw periods of combat during the “Tanker Wars” of the 1980s in the Persian Gulf, but that largely involved ships hitting mines. The Houthi assaults involve direct attacks on commercial vessels and warships.

“This is the most sustained combat that the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II — easily, no question,” said Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. “We’re sort of on the verge of the Houthis being able to mount the kinds of attacks that the U.S. can’t stop every time, and then we will start to see substantial damage. … If you let it fester, the Houthis are going to get to be a much more capable, competent, experienced force.”

USS Laboon: AP Image

Destroyer USS Laboon: AP Image

Dangers at sea and in the air

While the Eisenhower appears to largely stay at a distance, destroyers like the Laboon spend six out of seven days near or off Yemen — the “weapons engagement zone,” in Navy speak.

Sea combat in the Mideast remains risky, something the Navy knows well. In 1987, an Iraqi fighter jet fired missiles that struck the USS Stark, a frigate on patrol in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war, killing 37 sailors and nearly sinking the vessel.

There’s also the USS Cole, targeted in 2000 by boat-borne al-Qaida suicide bombers during a refueling stop in Yemen’s port city of Aden, which killed 17 on board. AP journalists saw the Cole patrolling the Red Sea with the Laboon on Wednesday, the same day the Houthis launched a drone-boat attack against a commercial ship there that disabled the vessel.

That commercial ship was abandoned on Friday and left adrift and unlit in the Red Sea, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, the Navy’s commander for its Carrier Strike Group Two, which includes the Eisenhower and supporting ships, said the Navy had taken out one underwater bomb-carrying drone launched by the Houthis as well during the campaign.

“We currently have pretty high confidence that not only is Iran providing financial support, but they’re providing intelligence support,” Miguez said. “We know for a fact the Houthis have also gotten training to target maritime shipping and target U.S. warships.”

Asked if the Navy believed Iran picks targets for the Houthis, Miguez would only say there was “collaboration” between Tehran and the rebels. He also noted Iran continues to arm the Houthis, despite U.N. sanctions blocking weapons transfers to them.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations told the AP that Tehran “is adept at thwarting the U.S. strategy in a way that not only strengthens (the Houthis) but also ensures compliance with the pertinent resolutions.”

The risk isn’t just on the water. The U.S.-led campaign has carried out numerous airstrikes targeting Houthi positions inside Yemen, including what the U.S. military describes as radar stations, launch sites, arsenals and other locations. One round of U.S. and British strikes on May 30 killed at least 16 people, the deadliest attack acknowledged by the rebels.

The Eisenhower’s air crews have dropped over 350 bombs and fired 50 missiles at targets in the campaign, said Capt. Marvin Scott, who oversees all the air group’s aircraft. Meanwhile, the Houthis apparently have shot down multiple MQ-9 Reaper drones with surface-to-air missile systems.

“The Houthis also have surface-to-air capabilities that we have significantly degraded, but they are still present and still there,” Scott said. “We’re always prepared to be shot at by the Houthis.”

A stalemated war

Officers acknowledge some grumbling among their crew, wondering why the Navy doesn’t strike harder against the Houthis. The White House hasn’t discussed the Houthi campaign at the same level as negotiations over the Israel-Hamas war.

There are several likely reasons. The U.S. has been indirectly trying to lower tensions with Iran, particularly after Tehran launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel and now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Meanwhile, there’s the Houthis themselves. The rebel group has battled a Saudi-led coalition into a stalemate in a wider war that’s killed more than 150,000 people, including civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

The U.S. directly fighting the Houthis is something the leaders of the Zaydi Shiite group likely want. Their motto long has been “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.” Combating the U.S. and siding publicly with the Palestinians has some in the Mideast praising the rebels.

While the United States and its European allies police the waterways, Saudi Arabia has mainly been silent, seeking a peace settlement with the Houthis. According to reports, certain Middle Eastern countries have begged the United States not to initiate attacks on the Houthis from their territory, making Eisenhower’s presence even more crucial.

The carrier’s deployment has been extended, and its crew has only made one port stop since its deployment a week after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Obama and Yemen

In 2015, US President Barack Obama began assisting a Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The goal was to restore Yemen’s government, which the Houthis had deposed.

Obama approved logistical support, intelligence sharing, and weaponry sales to the coalition. Critics believe that this assistance exacerbated a humanitarian disaster, killing thousands of civilians and pushing millions to the edge of hunger.

Proponents argue that it was important to oppose Iranian influence in the region, given Tehran’s support for the Houthis. Despite objectives, the war has lingered on, causing enormous misery among Yemen’s people.

The Associated Press

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The Goal Of Donald Trump’s Transition Team Is To Withdraw The US From WHO “On Day One.”

Published

9 hours ago

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2024-12-22

By

Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(VOR News) – The transition team led by Donald Trump is reportedly planning to remove the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the first day of the next government, according to experts.

This would have a “catastrophic” impact on people’s health all throughout the world, these experts warn.

On January 20, the day the president-elect becomes office, these individuals want to announce their desire to depart the global health agency, Donald Trump’s team members informed analysts.

If the World Health Organization were to depart, it would lose its most significant source of funding, which would hinder its ability to respond to public health emergencies such as the Coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump’s leadership and funding for global health are noteworthy.

The United States of America is most likely to leave a significant void. According to Georgetown Law professor of global health Lawrence Gostin, “I see no one that is going to fill the breach.” He went on to say that the withdrawal “on day one” will have “catastrophic” effects on people’s health all around the world.

Trump’s nomination of several allies, including vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, for important health positions in the incoming government has led to a disagreement over US relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, Gostin expressed doubt that Donald Trump would prioritize a prompt withdrawal as much as some of his colleagues.

The United States of America was the largest single donor to the World Health Organization (WHO), accounting for almost 16 percent of its funding in fiscal years 2022–2023.

In 2020, President Donald Trump began the process of disbanding the World Health Organization (WHO) after accusing it of being under Chinese control.

However, the process has never been completed, and his vice presidential replacement, Joe Biden, resumed relations with the agency on the first day of his administration in 2021.

Experts have seen that after initiating the process immediately, some Donald Trump administration officials are keen to proceed much more quickly this time.

Ashish Jha, a former White House Covid response coordinator for Biden and the director of Brown University’s school of public health, stated that the transition team wanted Donald Trump to withdraw on the first day because to the “symbolism” of reversing Biden’s own inauguration-day decision.

He remarked, “Many individuals within the administration’s inner circle lack trust in the WHO and wish to symbolically demonstrate their disassociation from it on the first day.”

“If you do not actively participate in these Donald Trump institutions.

You will not be able to respond quickly when the next outbreak happens,” he stated. Gostin predicted “very lean years for the WHO,” which would mean the organization would have to substantially cut back on its scientific workforce and struggle to respond to health emergencies.

If the United States withdrew, he said, European countries would likely not increase their contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO), and China might try to strengthen its influence. He claimed that since leaving would give China more authority, it would not be a smart move.

Questions concerning the possible withdrawal were not immediately answered by the Donald Trump transition team. “Is this the same WHO we left in place for the initial administration?” a person familiar with the arrangements told the Financial Times. Right now, we don’t appear to care all that much about what they have to say.

There was no response from the World Health Organization. The group’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called it a “unique organization” earlier this month and said it aimed to collaborate with U.S. officials.

He continued, “From our end, we are prepared to collaborate with one another.” “I believe that the leaders of the United States of America are aware of the fact that the United States cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe.

SOURCE: FT

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Do Microplastics in the Atmosphere Endanger Your Fertility?

Published

4 days ago

on

2024-12-18

By

Microplastic
HealthDay

(VOR News) – It is quite possible that the presence of small microplastic particles in the air may be a contributing factor to a wide variety of health problems, including malignancies of the lungs and colon.

This is something that needs additional research to be determined. There is one more item to take into consideration, and that is the potential that this is the exact circumstance.

A recent study found that tires and debris that are decomposing shed minute fragments of plastic that go airborne, so creating a form of air pollution that is not particularly widely known. This type of pollution is caused by the degradation of plastic. An example of this type of pollution is that which is discharged into the atmosphere.

The industry refers to microplastic as “air pollution.”

According to the findings of a researcher named Tracey Woodruff, who is a professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, “These microplastics are basically particulate matter from air pollution,” and it is common knowledge that this particular type of air pollution is particularly hazardous.

The researchers who supplied background notes stated that the size of microplastics is less than 5 millimetres, which is smaller than a grain of rice.

This information was provided, according to researchers. These details were supplied by the researchers who conducted the study. These particulars were provided by researchers who were responsible for carrying out the study.

The amount of plastic that is created on a yearly basis by enterprises all over the world is roughly 460 million tonnes, as indicated by the data that were provided by academics all over the world. The forecasts indicate that by the year 2050, this quantity is anticipated to have increased to 1.1 billion tonnes.

Driving is a substantial contributor to the amount of plastic that is floating around in the atmosphere, according to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the study about the phenomenon. When tires are worn down to the point where they scrape against the surface of the road, they allow microplastics to be released into the environment.

As a result of the tires wearing down, this occurs. This impact is brought about as a consequence of the inevitable amount of wear and tear that tires are subjected to.

A study that was published on December 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology was the result of researchers conducting an examination of data collected from over 3,000 previous investigations.

The paper was published as a consequence of this procedure. The review was constructed with the help of this analysis that was carried out.

Microplastic used this analysis to put together the review.

A number of diseases, such as cancer, lung problems, and infertility, may be influenced by the presence of microplastics in the air, according to the data, which led to the conclusion that this may be the case.

Despite the fact that the vast majority of the studies that were incorporated into the study were carried out on animals, the researchers claimed that it is very certainly plausible that the findings can also be applied to people. The fact that the majority of investigations were conducted on animals does not change the reality that this is the case.

“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” stated Nicholas Chartres, the principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.

The organisation reported this comment. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued a press release on behalf of the organisation that contained this statement. The news release was disseminated to the public. We are convinced that state officials will act quickly to make sure that no leaks of this kind occur, which is of the highest importance.

SOURCE: USN

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Russian Oil Ships In The Kerch Strait Are Undergoing Rescue Operations.

Published

1 week ago

on

2024-12-15

By

Russian
AP

(VOR News) – Following Sunday’s powerful storm, a Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of tonnes of oil products ultimately broke apart, causing an oil spill into the Kerch Strait below. Additionally, Russian officials reported that the damage was causing problems for another vessel.

Sunday, Russian authorities announced an emergency rescue operation.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, which claimed the Emergency Situations Ministry as its source, the Volgoneft-212 tanker, carrying fuel oil and carrying thirteen crew members, ran aground and suffered damage to its bow. A shipment of fuel oil was being transported by the tanker.

Authorities have told the public that the damage was brought on by the extreme weather conditions that are currently occurring.

A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was damaged during the storm and is currently stranded in the same area with 14 crew members on board, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tanker was discovered abandoned and alone in the same spot.

Additional tankers also suffered damage. The 132-meter-long cruiser, which was constructed in 1973, hangs the Russian flag around its neck.

The footage posted by state media showed the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was cut in two with its bow underwater, and waves crashing over its deck. At least one person lost his life as a result of this tragedy. This led to the opening of two distinct criminal investigations by the Russian authorities to look into potential violations of certain safety regulations.

Having flown the Russian flag since 1969, the yacht was finished.

Rosmorrechflot, the Russian government agency in charge of water transportation, reported a petroleum product spill.

It is believed that the cargo capacity of each tanker is around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.

The magnitude of the leak and the cause of the substantial damage one of the tankers received were not specified in the official remarks. This is in accordance with the official remarks.

Several news sites cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin directed the formation of a working committee to handle the rescue effort and lessen the effects of the oil disaster.

Peskov recommended that the government appoint the working committee’s members. This comment was made public right after Putin met with the ministries responsible for ecology and disaster management.

The Russian government has said that it will be sending more than fifty individuals and pieces of equipment to the area in response to the current crisis. Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats are examples of these people and tools.

The news that experts are presently investigating the damage at the event site was announced by Svetlana Radionova, who is in charge of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s natural resources regulating entity.

Kommersant reports that Volgoneft-212 used 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.

The footage, which showed a partially submerged ship and murky water on rough seas, was posted to Telegram without the owner’s consent.

The warships were located in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, when the distress signals were sent out.

The Kerch Strait is a crucial international marine passage that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, allowing for easier traffic between the two bodies of water. It also acts as a border between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which is under Russian occupation. The Kerch Strait is located in the centre of the two nations.

The peninsula has remained a major source of contention between the two national governments ever since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Russia was the one who seized the peninsula. Ukraine brought legal action against Russia before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.

Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Russia intended to illegally take over a location. The argument was supported by evidence pertaining to Russia’s conduct in the region. In 2021, the Russian Federation closed the strait for several consecutive months

SOURCE: VN

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