Operation Prosperity Guardian—Are You Kidding?

One can but wonder if there is a Special Office deep within the Pentagon that dreams up these operational monikers.

Leaving that inquiry aside, let’s discuss the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea

The Houthis are a militant group challenging the status quo in Yemen and, like many of the planet’s militants, like to hook up with most anyone who is raising hell against establishment governments. The current poster boy for such grievances at the moment is Hamas in Gaza and so, Yemen’s Houthis made a name for themselves at very little cost by attacking international shipping in the Red Sea. Allegedly, that was in support of Hamas, but mainly against anyone and anything that is anti-Israeli.

Hard for some of us not to agree with that, but that’s another argument for another day.

Since America is the current protector of all things we don’t agree with in the world, we immediately jumped into something the Pentagon calls Operation Prosperity Guardian

Just whose prosperity we are eager to guard at the moment is somewhat up in the air, but then what’s the use of the world’s largest navy if you don’t sail it off somewhere once in a while?

Given the choice of arming the Ukrainians against a violent attack by Russia, we chose to swing our support to commercial shipping. The one cost a few hundred billion to save a brave nation and the other cost trillions in naval support to protect commercial shipping. The one brought the support of NATO and world opinion. The other threw gasoline on the chaos in Gaza.

Which did we choose?

Why, shipping, of course. Gotta keep those cheap goods coming from Asia. AS Winston Churchill said (and I am fond of quoting), “America can always be depended upon to do the right thing—after they have explored all the alternatives.”

As per the usual formula, we whipped up a coalition to give us credibility. It currently has more than 20 members, of which ten are anonymously involved, which isn’t much use when counting the numbers, but one takes what one can get. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, each of whom are economically reliant on unhindered commercial shipping in the area (and who actually border the Red Sea) are absent from the coalition. Why stir up the Houthis when they’re within rocket range…and America is so willing to do the job.

It’s called Pax Americana and, God help us, we are the worldwide police at the moment

It was once Pax Romana, then Pax Britannica and now it’s our turn in the barrel. France, Italy, Germany, and Spain have also declined to participate in the coalition, even though they are the main nations on the receiving end of the protected route. Get out a map. The Mediterranean is a stop on the cruise up through the Red Sea.

But not all is lost, as Seychelles is on board

Not by deploying any actual vessels or personnel, and limiting itself to ‘providing and receiving information,’ so joining coalitions is not what it once was. The Iraq coalition after 9-11 rather permanently dirtied that laundry.

However, more substantive participation includes a British destroyer and frigate, with Greece announcing ‘plans’ to send a frigate, but that’s pretty much the total of seagoing hardware.

Denmark announced they would be sending one officer to aid the operation. Pretty thin coalition soup, hardly making a stew, but Australia announced that it will send eleven military personnel, although the Aussies rejected a US request to send a warship. The Canadian Armed Forces will deploy an unspecified number of land, air, and sea support vehicles, but they’re vague on specifics. But Canada is sending three staff officers, the Netherlands plans to send two, Norway plans on sending up to ten, but no vessels.

Eager to augment their business interests, Singapore will be deploying a team from the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Information Fusion Centre to support outreach to the commercial shipping community.

Thus, the current 20 member coalition boasts a destroyer and a frigate, along with some twenty-five assorted military personnel.

Meanwhile on the Pax Americana side of the equation

We offer the United States Navy's Carrier Strike Group 2, consisting of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier (1,800 Navy aviators from the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Three) and her escorting Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, plus the USS aircraft carrier Laboon and Mason, along with their pilots and squadrons.

As an Italian might say, “those are some spicy meatballs.”

Thus, it seems, after twenty years of messing about in the Middle East, and finally departing—as is our habit lately—with our tails between our legs, we are back once again in the game we never win.

In a month, we have allowed ourselves to be lured back to the tables at Vegas, after losing our shirt (and so much more) tilting at windmills

We are the unengaged, bamboozled, confused and overwrought citizens of Pax Americana and have no idea what decisions are made in that Situation Room that lurks within the basements of the White House. We hunger for peace and are fed endless wars.

Hamas attacked Israel, an outrageous event no doubt. Yet, without so much as a ‘by your leave,’ Joe Biden supported what has become a genocide in Gaza with whatever it takes.

What could possibly go wrong?

What possibly went wrong was worldwide horror at Netanyahu’s revenge killings and support from any terrorist group with a weaponized drone and a website. Gone was our support of Ukraine. Joe’s whatever it takes was so toxic in an already divided Congress that Ukraine’s gone begging, America is now in a war against any and all Iranian proxy militants and no one knows how to undo what has been done.

Operation Prosperity Guardian is a horror-story of a joke, that operates without an end-game, kills any remote chance of prosperity in the Middle East and claims to be a guardian, as it attacks without question, morals or purpose.

We have a national election coming up.

They tell us it matters…