Compass Points - Houthi High School
Providing a global education
Compass Points - Houthi High School
Providing a global education
April 1, 2024
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It is not an April Fool's Day joke to ask, are terrorists around the globe now attending Houthi High School? The Wall Street Journal says it is possible.
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For months now the Houthis have been harassing ships in and around the Red Sea. (See the Military Times list, "All the Houthi-US Navy incidents in the Middle East (that we know of).") The US has done nothing to force the Houthis to cease their harassment.
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It is not that the US could not destroy the Houthi launch sites and infrastructure, the US could do so in a single day. But the US chooses not to end the Houthi harassment. The US calculates that the Houthis are not a significant enough threat to eliminate.
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A significant threat, on the other hand, from a significant military power would be completely destroyed. Iran does not launch missiles at commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf or at the US Naval forces in Bahrain, because Iran correctly calculates US response would be swift and comprehensive. North Korea fires missiles into the Sea of Japan but it does not fire missiles into Seoul which is only 23 kilometers from the border. North Korea calculates the response from South Korea and the US would be, again, swift and comprehensive. In 1962 the Soviet Union attempted to established missile units in Cuba, but was forced to withdraw the units under threat of war. China disputes the ownership of the Spratly islands and has built runways and other infrastructure, but it has never installed missile units on the islands or others nearby. China obviously calculates that such isolated missile units would be too provocative and not worth the risks. In the event of wider war, isolated missile units are easy to destroy, isolate, and bypass.
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In peace time, random drone harassment by weak, irregular forces is often not taken seriously. But, letting even low level, bad behavior go unchecked always leads to more bad behavior. Today the US is doing very little to respond to the Houthi harassment.
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A recent AP article reports, "US military says it destroyed Houthi drones over the Red Sea and in Yemen"
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CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday its forces destroyed one unmanned aerial vehicle in a Houthi rebel-held area of war-ravaged Yemen and another over a crucial shipping route in the Red Sea. It was the latest development in months of tension between the Iran-backed rebels and the U.S.
The drones, which were destroyed Saturday morning, posed a threat to U.S. and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region, said the U.S. Central Command.
-- AP
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The key word is "months" The longer the Houthis are allowed to continue to harass Red Sea commercial shipping with missiles and drones, the more the Houthis provide a school for other hostile nations, nation-states, and terrorists on how to distract, harass, and embarrass the US around the globe.
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Houthi high school teaches small terror groups around the globe to use drones and missiles to harass US interests and US targets. 'Don't worry' reassures the Houthis, 'it will take months for the US to respond and when they do respond, it will be timidly and ineffectively.'
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Where else might the US face conflict similar to the Houthi harassment attacks? The Wall Street Journal suggests Houthi-like drone and missile attacks could be coming in the waters south of Miami. Venezuela is embroiled in a long simmering territorial conflict with neighboring Guyana. Recently, Venezuela turned up the heat in the dispute by creating a new Venezuelan state in the disputed Guyana territory. Venezuela is claiming more than half of the nation of Guyana.
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CARACAS, March 21 (Reuters) - Lawmakers in Venezuela allied with the government of President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday approved the creation of a new state in a territory that is the subject of a long dispute with neighboring Guyana, despite an ongoing international court case.The approval is in line with recent rhetoric from Maduro about his country's supposed right to govern the 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) Esequibo region . . .
-- Reuters
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Some diplomats believe there is no danger of war in the ongoing dispute, but Reuters goes on to report, "Guyana has said its borders are not up for discussion and that it will defend its sovereignty."
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Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O’Grady is not so sure the conflict will remain peaceful.
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Houthi attacks on global shipping assets in the Red Sea have damaged Middle Eastern economies like Egypt’s. But they also may have increased threats to U.S. national security and international trade in other parts of the world.
Military-intelligence analysts I have spoken to believe that enemies of the West are looking to export the Houthi model of aggression—a kind of 21st-century piracy—to other jurisdictions. These analysts are worried that Guyanese waters could become a prime target. The role of the Houthis will be played by Venezuela.
This is speculative. But it comes from specialists who spend their days tracking the activities of nondemocratic actors out to destabilize the Americas. It isn’t the only explanation for recent shipments of military aid to Venezuela from Russia and Iran, complementing earlier deliveries from those countries and from China. But it’s a logical one and is supported by recent developments. If successful, the strategy would crimp global oil supplies, strengthen the narrative that Washington is impotent, and empower a U.S. adversary close to home.
-- Wall St. Journal
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Venezuela is just across the Caribbean Sea from Haiti, which is a crisis all its own. The US needs a MEU in the waters off Haiti and Venezuela.
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There are crises igniting all over the world. If the US can get some MEUs to the site of a crisis and if those MEUs are supported by Maritime Prepositioning Ships so the MEU can be rapidly expanded, augmented, and reinforced, then those small blazes can be quickly extinguished. Small blazes left to burn, however, turn into infernos. There is a reason why Americans have always understood how important it is to be able to, "Send in the Marines!" Sending in Marines early means small crises are ended quickly. Waiting to send in the Marines means the crisis expands, spreads, and grows more deadly.
-- Compass Points - Calling All MEUs
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It is time to shut down Houthi high school before the graduates go global. Compass Points salutes all those across the Marine community and in Congress who are working to restore the might of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces so that MEUs are available to be always on patrol around the world. Marine MEUs can sail the seas without seeking permission and without provoking alarm. MEUs are uniquely mobile, flexible, and capable. Friends of the US are always reassured by the MEUs and enemies are always deterred.
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AP - 03/31/2024
US military says it destroyed Houthi drones over the Red Sea and in Yemen
By SAMY MAGDY
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Reuters - 03/21/2024
Venezuela creates new state in territory under dispute with Guyana
By Deisy Buitrago
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Wall Street Journal 04/01/2024
Houthi-Style Piracy Is Exportable
Venezuelan ocean patrols are already violating Guyana’s maritime boundary.
By Mary Anastasia O’Grady
https://www.wsj.com/articles/houthi-style-piracy-is-exportable-venezuela-guyana-d38c74f6
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Compass Points - Calling all MEUs
Trouble spots need Marines.
March 25, 2024
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-calling-all-meus
Where are the MEU's? Oh, I guess we don't have any Marines or any amphibious shipping - where has it all gone? Maybe "sold off" to pay for one MLR! This is getting disgusting.
This is what I’m talking about!
https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium/2024/04/01/army-office-in-charge-of-rapid-development-takes-on-guam-air-defense/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mil-ebb
Let the US Army do the “defense battalion” concept. The US Army has the resources, both operationally, experimentally and traditionally, to accomplish this mission.
Instead of cutting US Marine Combat power and compromising the MAGTF concept, the Commandant should have been fighting for more amphibious ships. Each Combatant Commander should have an amphibious MEU available for contingency purposes and USINDOPACOM needs two. Five Combatant Commanders plus two for USINDOPACOM equals six. BTW the Commandant should have thrown in at least two MPF’s (one in the Pacific and one in the Indian Ocean).
Then MAYBE the US could stop third world Houthi drones and missile from using both commercial and military shipping for target practice.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/02/12/all-the-houthi-us-navy-incidents-in-the-middle-east-that-we-know-of/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mil-ebb
Semper Fi