The U.S.-led task force President Joe Biden is looking to form for the protection of Red Sea commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks is in trouble.
Key American allies and Arab nations are appearing increasingly reluctant to join the maritime alliance with a collective fear of expanding the Israel-Hamas war one of the key points of difference, Reuters reports.
Two of America’s European allies listed as initial contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian – Italy and Spain – have issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force.
Australia is also missing with its left-wing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese preferring to take an isolationist stance and keep naval assets closer to home, as Breitbart News reported.
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates earlier proclaimed no interest in the venture.
In total the U.S. says 20 nations sign up for taskforce, but has only named 12.
The vital shipping lane, which spans the Bab el-Mandab Strait in the south to the Suez Canal in the north, is a key oil supply artery between Europe, the Middle East and Asia via the Suez Canal accounting for over 10 percent of global sea seaborne crude, according to maritime services and information provider Lloyd’s Register.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, rear, addresses members of an international maritime task force protecting commercial ships in the Red Sea at U.S. Navy Central Command headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)
But the Iran-backed militia has escalated attacks on vessels by targeting those they believe are Israel-bound and threatening global maritime trade.
“European governments are very worried that part of their potential electorate will turn against them,” David Hernandez, a professor of international relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, told Reuters.
He noted the European public is increasingly wary of being drawn into the conflict even as defense budgets – and capabilities – expand in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.
Meanwhile the navies of the United States, Britain and France have each shot down Houthi-launched drones or missiles.
The Houthis are members of a jihadi movement that calls itself “Ansar Allah,” the Army of Allah.
Its slogan is “Allahu Akbar, Death to the United States, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory for Islam.” President Joe Biden lifted Ansar Allah’s classification as a terrorist organization in February 2021.