President Joe Biden finally did the bare minimum this week to respond to the dozens of Islamic terrorist attacks that have been launched against commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea over the last several weeks.
The announcement from the Department of Defense comes after the Yemen-based Houthis, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, have launched missiles, suicide drones, and have hijacked ships with ties to Israel ever since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks.
The administration unveiled “the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea.”
Operation Prosperity Guardian is comprised of several countries combining forces to ensure safety in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, including the U.S., United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain.
The goal of the operation is to ensure “freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” a statement said.
Biden has repeatedly refused to launch strikes against the Houthis, even though some of their attacks appear to have targeted U.S. destroyers operating in the area. Biden’s lack of action has frustrated many of his top military officials who say that he has done nothing to establish deterrence as he does not want to risk upsetting Iran.
The Associated Press reported that the attacks have upended global commerce as some of the world’s largest shipping companies and oil producers have had to reroute their ships, taking significantly longer routes that can delay shipments by weeks and drive up costs for consumers.
The most recent terrorist attacks in the Red Sea happened on Monday, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
“The chemical/oil tanker motor vessel SWAN ATLANTIC was attacked by a one-way attack drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen,” the statement said. “The Cayman Islands flagged SWAN ATLANTIC reported impact on the vessel and requested assistance, the USS CARNEY (CCG 64), the closest U.S. warship, responded to assess damage.”
“At approximately the same time, the bulk cargo ship M/V CLARA reported an explosion in the water near their location,” the statement continued. “This attack is separate from the attack on the M/V SWAN ATLANTIC. There was no request for support or report of damage.”
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