Operation Prosperity Guardian: US scrambles to secure Red Sea route
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Announcing Operation Prosperity Guardian, the US hopes to hurdle Yemen's support for Palestine, as it assembles a ten-nation coalition in the face of Sanaa.
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney in Souda Bay, Greece, on an unspecified date. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Bill Dodge/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) are capable of "harassing" more ships in the Red Sea than the US Navy can "protect", a report by Newsweek highlighted.
As talks of surrounding a coalition, spearheaded by the United States, begin to materialize, concerns about the US' capacity to safeguard its own interests and those of the Israeli occupation are surfacing.
The Yemeni Armed Forces' operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, targeting ships bound to Israeli ports in occupied Palestine or Israeli-owned vessels, have had resounding effects all over the world.
Operation Prosperity Guardian
In response to these operations, under the guise of securing international maritime trade routes, the US military launched "Operation Prosperity Guardian" late on Monday.
The US Department of Defense announced that its "security initiative" will work under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153.
The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain, will be among the countries jointly working with the Pentagon to "address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity," the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
According to the Associated Press, which cited an unnamed defense official, several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation, however, they prefer not to be named.
The United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the United States already have substantial naval presence in the region, with the US leading the coalition in terms of the number of and quality of deployed naval assets.
Read more: US-created anti-Yemen coalition to be filthiest in history: Sanaa
YAF imposes siege on "Israel"
In recent days, both Western media and shipping conglomerates have attempted to frame the YAF's operations as a threat to international trade. However, Yemen's military has made it clear, in every statement announcing a strike on a vessel, that its operations only target ships heading to Israeli ports or Israeli-owned ships. The YAF has also reassured all other vessels of safe travels if they successfully identify their final destinations.
US' CENTCOM has also participated in a misinformation campaign, seeking to vilify Sanaa's support to the Palestinian people. Coinciding with an announcement made by the YAF on Saturday, regarding an attack on Israeli targets in "Eilat" in southernmost occupied Palestine, CENTCOM said that it "shot down" several attack drones "with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries."
The statement presumed that the drones endangered vessels in the Red Sea, which was refuted by the YAF's statement.
US fleet fails to protect Israeli port-bound ships
On Monday, AP citing a US official confirmed that the USS Carney, which had previously participated in attempts to intercept Yemeni attacks, had responded to the YAF's operation that targeted the Israeli-affiliated Swan Atlantic.
The official failed to confirm whether Carney's interceptors foiled the attack, however, the YAF announced that it targeted the Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara with two aerial attack drones.
Preparing to deal with a large Yemeni arsenal, that can target vessels via multiple modes of action, the US-led coalition faces a huge challenge. Fabian Hinz, a research fellow specializing in Middle East defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, told Newsweek that the US is already "stretched" with its international commitments.
In detail, the expert stressed that although the US Navy is capable of thwarting anti-ship attacks, it "can't be everywhere all the time."
According to Hinz, the US is faced with a "near impossible task", as it attempts to cover its interests in a huge body of water.
Yemen's steadfast in its support for Palestine
On the other hand, Sanaa and the Yemeni people have promised unwavering support to Palestine and their Resistance.
The commander of the Fifth Military Region in the Sanaa government, Major General Yusuf al-Madani, affirmed Yemen's unwavering commitment to support Gaza, regardless of any external pressure. In a statement on Monday, the Major General declared that "any escalation in Gaza is an escalation in the Red Sea."
Al-Madani stressed that the YAF will confront "any state or entity that stands between [Yemen] and Palestine."
Yemen is "committed to maintaining high readiness against any potential threats, as the enemy is lying in wait for Yemen and seeks reactions after being humiliated."
Read more: Shipping firms cease deliveries to "Israel" or reroutes around Africa
