AND Magazine: The Pirates Are Winning – Defeat In The Red Sea. By Sam Faddis (0825/24)

andmagazine.substack.com/p/the-pirates-…

Faddis opens:

Over two hundred years ago the United States went to war against the Barbary Pirates, a collection of Arab emirates on the North African coast that made a living from piracy. They considered our ships easy marks. They were wrong.

He contrasts this with today via this ominous statement:

Modern-day pirates known as the Houthis have largely closed one of the world’s most strategic waterways, the Red Sea, to commercial shipping. Our response to date has been at best ineffectual. We are losing the war.

He also provides solutions, summarized here:

• Act with a sense of purpose.

• Intercept attacking vessels.

• Target locations in Yemen where the Houthis build missiles, drones, and boats.

• Adopt a policy of firm, overwhelming response.

His assessment of the US response:

Unfortunately, this administration is filled with individuals who not only lack moral courage but sympathize more with the Houthis than with those nations under attack. We lack resolve. Our armed forces are fighting subject to constraints that make it impossible to win.