The Western Elite Really Do Not Like It When Someone Starts Shooting At Cargo Ships And Disrupting Global Trade

Since the middle of November, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have literally attacked dozens of commercial ships in the Red Sea, and the Houthis insist that the attacks will continue until Israeli troops pull out of Gaza.  Needless to say, that is not going to happen.  Since the Houthis are not able to attack Israel directly, they are doing their best to make themselves a relevant part of World War III by lobbing missiles at cargo ships and disrupting global trade.  Of course the western elite were not just going to sit there and allow the Houthis to threaten energy markets and global supply chains.  Normally, approximately 40 percent of all trade between Europe and Asia goes through the Red Sea.  If a commercial ship is forced to go all the way around the Horn of Africa, the additional fuel that is used can cost up to a million dollars.  When western economic interests are threatened so gravely, it is only a matter of time before the U.S. military gets involved, and that is precisely what has happened.  In fact, the U.S. just launched a fifth wave of military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen…

US President Joe Biden has said that attacks on the Houthis will continue even as he acknowledged that the group have not stopped their Red Sea attacks.

The US carried out a fifth round of strikes on Yemen on Thursday after a US ship was struck by a Houthi drone.

White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that US forces “took out a range of Houthi missiles” that were about to be fired towards the Red Sea.

If you asked random people on the street who the Houthis are, most of them would have absolutely no idea.

And if you asked them to locate Yemen on a blank map of the world, most of them would not have a prayer of finding it.

But now the U.S. is at war with the Houthis in Yemen, and the Houthis are pledging that nobody will be able to stop their attacks

On Thursday Houthi chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi declared that “we are now in direct confrontation with the US and UK” in the Red Sea, following the overnight US coalition airstrikes on Yemen, which constitute the fourth round of counter-Houthi attacks.

The Houthis this week have said they will attack all Israeli and US targets in response to the massacre of Palestinians happening in the Gaza Strip. “Anyone attempting to hinder us from doing so will fail,” a Houthi official said Monday.

Originally, the Houthis were hitting Israeli ships or ships that were headed to Israeli ports, but now they have decided to broaden their attacks

Initially, the Houthis declared that either Israeli vessels or ships headed to Israeli ports would be targeted, but the scope of their targeting has expanded. “The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it, it is enough for it to be American,” Nasruddin Amer, a Houthi spokesman, told Al Jazeera at the start of this week.

This is going to be a very serious long-term problem if the Houthis refuse to stop.

Ultimately, the only way to completely end the threat would be to invade Yemen and wipe out the Houthis.

Would the U.S. and other western powers be willing to go that far?

Meanwhile, Pakistan responded to the recent missile strikes from Iran by launching missiles of their own

Pakistan launched airstrikes against alleged militant hideouts inside Iran on Thursday, killing at least nine people as it retaliated for a similar attack days earlier by Iran and raising tensions with its neighbor as conflict across the region escalates.

The unprecedented attacks by both Pakistan and Iran on either side of their border appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. The countries accuse each other of providing a haven to the groups in their respective territories.

It seems like there is another round of escalation in the Middle East almost every single day now.

I think that it is just a matter of time before the entire region explodes in flames.

In eastern Europe, the Russians continue to march forward in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are begging for more funding at the yearly gathering of the WEF.

And we have just learned that next week NATO will be holding “its largest military exercise in decades”

NATO announced Thursday that it would begin its largest military exercise in decades next week, involving 90,000 troops and testing the allies’ ability over months to engage in a conflict with an adversary like Russia.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will run to late May and involve units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, US General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told journalists.

Why stretch out these exercises until late May?

The Russians are already super paranoid, and now these large scale NATO exercises will have them on edge for the next four months.

Great.

Of course things continue to get even more tense in Asia as well.  In fact, China just initiated “its largest military drills around Taiwan in weeks”

Communist China conducted its largest military drills around Taiwan in weeks on Wednesday, which comes just days after Taiwan once again elected a president that has vowed to confront China.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that China’s military conducted air and naval operations near the island nation last night with 24 planes and five ships.

At some point, China will decide to pull the trigger on an invasion of Taiwan.

And at some point the war in Ukraine will go to an entirely new level.

And I am entirely convinced that the war in the Middle East will soon spin wildly out of control.

Global tensions have been building up for years, and I believe that 2024 will be the year when they finally explode.

World War III is upon us, and the days ahead are going to be filled with a great deal of turmoil.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s highly controversial new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  You can keep up with Michael’s work on social media on YouTubeFacebook and Twitter, and sharing his articles on your own social media accounts is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.