The Yemeni Armed Forces have defeated the US Navy, and the formation of three US, British, and European operations and coalitions has failed to stop Yemeni naval attacks in support of Gaza, a British newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Telegraph stated that these attacks have not only increased in number but have also diversified in their methods. It noted that the United States, realizing its inability to control the situation in the Red Sea, withdrew all its warships, followed by the UK, leaving only European ships in the region.
The newspaper reported that the US “Operation Prosperity Guard,” established in December last year to “provide a united international front” to deter Yemen and halt maritime attacks, “did not succeed.”
The report added that the Houthis did not back down from their position and continued to launch attacks, leading to the initiation of “Operation Poseidon Archer” in January, involving US and British airstrikes on Yemen. However, as the newspaper noted, similar to Saudi Arabia’s experiences between 2015 and 2023, trying to disrupt the “Houthis through airstrikes is like hitting smoke.”
The newspaper further stated that none of these efforts have yielded any significant progress, even when the European Union formed a separate coalition called “Aspids” to avoid being associated with the US stance toward Israel. The report highlighted the Western inability to agree on how to carry out the basic mission, something that has not gone unnoticed by the shipping companies they were trying to reassure.
The report pointed out that “since January, not only have the attacks steadily increased in number, but they have also diversified, with drones and cruise missiles being accompanied by kidnappings and ballistic missile strikes. April saw the first use of an unmanned surface vessel, with a steady increase in this method since then.”
It added that the situation has escalated further, as the Yemenis have recently begun following up their attacks by firing small arms from high-speed boats. The past few weeks have seen a noticeable increase in the number of attacks, with five occurring every two weeks.
The report also addressed the operation that targeted and burned the Greek oil tanker Sounio for violating the ban on accessing occupied Palestinian ports, noting that a European Union ship had evacuated the ship’s crew.
The report explained that European military ships “are the only ones currently present in the region, as there are no ships belonging to the Prosperity Guard operation within a 500-mile (over 920 km) radius.”
In May, it added, when the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was present, the United States had 12 warships in the region, providing a mix of missile surveillance and escort missions. Now, it has no ships in the area. The United Kingdom briefly had three ships, with the destroyer HMS Diamond performing some distinguished actions as part of the Prosperity Guard group, but when the group left, it left as well.
In an attempt to justify the British withdrawal, the report stated that “from the UK’s perspective, the reason is clear and direct: we do not have enough ships, or rather, we do not have enough of them in working condition. The situation is more complicated for the United States because it has the ships but has chosen not to send any of them.”
The report continued: “This does not mean that the Americans are not facing their own problems. The US Navy has announced that it may have to stop 17 support ships due to crew-related issues. The western Pacific is currently devoid of aircraft carriers for the first time in years. It is a strange paradox that two of these ships are located in the Middle East region, but not in the Red Sea. Additionally, the latest US frigate construction program is collapsing, and the construction rate of Virginia-class submarines is below the required level to maintain the current fleet.”
The report concluded: “We can only reach one conclusion: the United States has abandoned the Prosperity Guard operation as it has failed to deter the Houthis and has not reassured maritime shipping. Therefore, it may be better for the US to focus on other efforts.”
The report also considered that “the passage around the Cape of Good Hope has become the new normal situation at the moment.”
It added that even if the American aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt were to move to the Red Sea, “there is no longer any guarantee of the success of this mission more than ever before,” suggesting that “the pursuit of a political or financial solution represents a major deviation from the United States’ historical maritime strategy,” highlighting the current inability to impose the deterrence strategies that the United States has traditionally relied upon.
Source: Almasirah
