The targeting of another U.S.-owned commercial ship Wednesday shows the militant group remains intent on continuing its attacks in the face of multiple rounds of U.S. military airstrikes.

The Houthis launched anti-ship ballistic missiles at the U.S.-owned, flagged and operated commercial ship Maersk Detroit as it was transiting the Gulf of Aden, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Gravely shot down two missiles and a third fell into the water. There were no indications of damage or injuries in the attack.

The U.S. military has been conducting airstrikes against the Houthis to degrade their capabilities since Jan.11, after several weeks of attacks on commercial ships by the militant group.

  • @SkyezOpen
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    2310 months ago

    What’s the play to stop this then?

    • @Viking_Hippie
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      -110 months ago

      I don’t know. I don’t have to in order to recognize the fact that military action only exacerbates the problem by making it easier to radicalize the people whose loved ones are killed, though.

      • @assassin_aragorn
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        310 months ago

        Normally I’d agree, but the Houthis can stop all hostilities by stopping attacking international trade vessels. That isn’t a difficult ask. They can even try to use this as leverage to get other things they want.

        • @Viking_Hippie
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          -110 months ago

          the Houthis can stop all hostilities by stopping attacking international trade vessels.

          Yeah, that’s bullshit. A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the shit out of them with American weapons for several years now.

          I don’t in any way condone terrorism under any circumstances, but to pretend that there’s not been any previous acts of oppressive violence to radicalize them is as unhelpful as it is (wilfully?) ignorant.

          • @assassin_aragorn
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            110 months ago

            I don’t disagree there, but this is what I meant by leverage. “We’ll stop attacking if you stop helping the Saudis”. It wasn’t too long ago that the Houthis actually considered the US as a friendly state.

            • @Viking_Hippie
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              -210 months ago

              Wilfully ignorant it is.

              There’s no way the US government is ever going to make any such deal, much less honor it.

              • @assassin_aragorn
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                110 months ago

                The Houthis are welcome to continue the current state of affairs if that’s what they prefer.

                • @Viking_Hippie
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                  -110 months ago

                  Yeah because clearly they’re the ones with all the power here. Next you’re gonna say that Palestinians can stop the Gaza genocide any time they want 🙄

                  • @assassin_aragorn
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                    -310 months ago

                    The Gaza genocide is because Israel dislikes the Palestinians existing. These attacks are because the US/UK dislike the Houthis attacking commercial vessels.

                    You’re insulting Palestinians by suggesting there’s any similarity, and actually playing into the Israeli narrative that Palestinians are being violent. Well done.

      • trevor
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        10 months ago

        And even if you’re a ghoul and think that complying with that very reasonable demand wouldn’t stop the Houthis, why not call their bluff? It costs us nothing to simply stop allowing the genocide to happen, and if the Houthis continue attacking ships, then you have a much more legitimate reason to go after them.

        Or are the people that are in favor of bombing Yemen just really eager to bomb?

        • @SkyezOpen
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          1310 months ago

          The Saudis have been bombing it for Allah knows how long, so it’s business as usual for everyone involved.

          • trevor
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            710 months ago

            That’s neither here, nor there. The answer isn’t to make the bombing in Yemen worse.

            If the only demand is to stop genociding Palestinians, then the US government should simply stop supporting Israel in their genocide.

            If the Houthis continue attacking ships after that, then by all means, do what you need to do to handle the Houthis. But the US government can’t even be bothered to call for a ceasefire, so they leave it up to militant groups to act.

            • @assassin_aragorn
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              310 months ago

              They are actually in the process of calling for a ceasefire. Biden pissed off Netanyahu as well. There’s diplomacy in the background to get a ceasefire and more hostages freed.

          • @chuckleslord
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            510 months ago

            “Violence is being done to this group at such an alarming rate that it’s being treated as normal. So violence is fine, they’re used to it”

            That’s what that sounded like to me.

            • @SkyezOpen
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              310 months ago

              I was being facetious, but yes that’s what I was saying.

              • @chuckleslord
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                110 months ago

                Yeah, that was already pointed out.

                • NoIWontPickaName
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                  210 months ago

                  I was asking because I couldn’t tell if your comment was sarcastic or not.

                  I was trying to figure out if I was getting whooshed. lol

          • @Aceticon
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            210 months ago

            And were doing it with bombs sold to them by the US and UK.

            I wouldn’t be surprised if the serial numbers on some of the stuff the US and UK is now dropping directly on the Houtis shows them to be from the same batches as some of the stuff that was dropped on them via the Saudis.

            The idea that the US and UK cutting off the middleman to keep on doing to the Houtis what has been done to them for a decade, is going to make the Houtis change their minds, is hilarious.

        • @Fades
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          410 months ago

          It CoStS us nOtHiNg

          You really don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to policy. It’s not just a simple “okay let’s cut ties with Israel”.

          • trevor
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            210 months ago

            Calling for a cease fire isn’t “cutting ties with Israel”, and if you think that funding a genocidal ethnostate is a necessary part of foreign policy, your foreign policy would have been very helpful for the Axis Powers, you absolute monster.

            • @SkyezOpen
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              210 months ago

              They actually might throw a hissy fit if we withhold aid and expel US diplomats or something. We’d lose a major base in the middle east, but (if you’ll allow for a little American exceptionalism) they don’t call the fucking shots here.

              • trevor
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                210 months ago

                I’ll allow for what you’re referring to as American exceptionalism if it’s reflective of reality. And, in the case of the US being a world superpower, and Israel’s top (external) source of military funding, that is the reality.

                So, yes. The far-right Israeli government might throw a hissy fit over the US government adopting a “genocide is a non-starter” policy for supporting them, but the US calls the shots. If Israel doesn’t like it, too fucking bad.

      • @SkyezOpen
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        310 months ago

        Sure, agreed, probably. I don’t believe one atrocity justifies another though (like the holocaust doesn’t justify… Literally anything they’ve used it as justification for), and the problem is the houthis aren’t just fucking with US and Israeli related ships, they’re impacting global trade.

        Backing down in the face of violence (even if it is the correct thing to do in this particular situation) only empowers them to cause more violence because it works. That’s why the US doesn’t (typically) negotiate with terrorists.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness
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          -210 months ago

          Yeah I’m not saying the Houthis are right here (they’re being too indiscriminate), but giving into their demands is objectively the morally correct action. They’re using a wrong method to make a correct point.

      • prole
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        -610 months ago

        Am I mistaken, or is the situation with the Houthis and Saudis in Yemen entirely unrelated to the current conflict in Gaza? These are two separate things. The Houthis aren’t disrupting international trade as a statement about Gaza… Like do you have any idea what we’re even talking about in this thread?

          • @SkyezOpen
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            510 months ago

            their actions in the Red Sea towards ships flying the American flag is because of what’s happening in Gaza. Why would you not believe them?

            Because they’ve hit numerous ships not related to Israel or the US.

          • @gnate
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            310 months ago

            Related, yes, but not exclusive to the current situation, as it’s a continuation of the attacks the Houthis have been carrying out for the last decade. Not to mention they don’t restrict the attacks to Israeli and US ships. Besides, their “Death to Israel, Death to America” slogan betrays their motives.

            • @assassin_aragorn
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              410 months ago

              Their slogan also calls out Jewish people in general, it’s pretty fucked.

        • @SkyezOpen
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          1210 months ago

          So they never declared safe zones, then dropped bombs on those safe zones? Or walked the streets shooting people literally standing there? Or shot a guy holding a white flag minutes after he gave an interview? Or shot Israeli hostages holding a white flag by mistake because they thought they were Palestinians?

          • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
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            10 months ago

            Blah blah blah. Research even one of the claims you’re repeating. There have been warnings on warnings. Yes. Even after telling people to evacuate south and then certain buildings on the route being blown up, additional texts and calls were sent to warn people in the area of the bombings.

            There’s been about seven people shot holding white flags, and pretending to be hostages with white flags is one of Hamas’s martyrdom tactics, designed to cause people like you to have sympathy for actual terrorists.

            • @SkyezOpen
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              10 months ago

              The idf literally reported killing 3 hostages themselves. And there’s video evidence of people standing in the road doing nothing when they were shot.

              • ???
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                10 months ago

                I wouldn’t bother. I don’t think any number will satisfy this person. In another convo they told me that it’s just tens of thousands of lives that are suffering to save tens of millions of lives in the future…

                Like you saw from their comment, they have an excuse ready for all 25k lives killed.

                • Promethiel
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                  710 months ago

                  I’d wish for you to have to live through a warzone between two ideologies while your normal ass is just trying to make a living through it all, but with my luck you’re one of my dumbass neighbors literally or figuratively.

                  And that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the innocents around you.

                  I’m shocked it hasn’t happened to me before, but for the first time online in 15 years I actually feel this sentiment; fuck you very much and all you stand for.

        • NoIWontPickaName
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          810 months ago

          So killing people holding white flags with their hands up are a threat?

          How about all the innocent children and babies?

          Also Hamas?

          • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
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            10 months ago

            No, they’re innocent children and babies. And it’s very sad that Hamas uses them as human shields. That is part of their terrorism.

            The sooner the world gets rid of Hamas, the sooner the people of Palestine might have a chance at a normal life.

            It’s a shame that Hamas has such high support in Palestine and they took that support and used it to dig a bunch of collapsing tunnels underneath their cities, buy bombs and rockets, and then murder 1,200 innocent civilians and first responders to provoke a significantly more powerful force, betraying their people and their land.

            Like yeah it’s very sad that all these kids are dying. It is atrocious. However it is the fault of Hamas. They are the ones stopping people from leaving everytime they are warned to do so.

            You can look up the warnings yourself, images and recordings. Look up one of these civilian catastrophes that you’re so concerned about and instead of just repeating the 140 character talking point you read on Qatari state media or something, see what actually happened.

            I’m not making excuses for the couple dozen or so actual war crimes that have occurred. And I will even admit that the IDF has a culture of disregard. But the idea that all of these bombings are simply indiscriminate targeting of civilians is absolutely bullshit nonsense, divorced from reality and unsupported by facts available to anyone within thirty seconds of research.

            • NoIWontPickaName
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              310 months ago

              No one said all, I’m sure a few of the bombings were legitimate, but if you want me to trust a word out of the IDF’s mouth, you better show me forty decapitated babies and people that are named after the days of the week.

              Israel lost all moral backing when they decided to use dumb bombs to kill 10’s of thousands

              Israel says they have killed 9000 Hamas soldiers, destroyed fucking only God knows how many buildings and they are attacking un facilities.
              you will have to forgive me I’m sure all of this is just antisemitism

              • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
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                010 months ago

                Nah I don’t think criticizing Israel is antisemitic. Everyone has raised excellent questions. Just seems people are not answering them logically and with real world consequences in mind. I’d call a lot of it virtue signaling. Look, everyone agrees genocide is wrong and cannot be tolerated. Everyone agreed targeting civilians for the sake of targeting civilians is a war crime.

                Those three tank shells at the UN center today last night sure seem like a war crime. I have about 50/50 level of confidence that if it is a warm crime, those responsible will be prosecuted by the Israeli militaries traditions of justice.

                I have zero confidence whatsoever that war crimes committed by Hamas or anyone in Palestine will be investigated or at all treated by authorities as a criminal matter, but would rather be rewarded with money and praise, and excused not under laws of religious zealotry.

        • @jordanlundM
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          210 months ago

          Removed, rule 6 misinformation:

          “virtually every single civilian killed was warned to evacuate and warned again before they got blown up.”

          Also rule 5, keep it civil, calling another user a “useful idiot”.

          Just in this thread alone, you have multiple counts against you warranting a ban.