The U.S. is creating a coalition of nations unwilling to sacrifice their interests (Red Sea shipping) and international standing to join the noxious U.S.-Israel alliance. From Eldar Mamedov at responsiblestatecraft.org:
The Pentagon said Spain is member of Operation Prosperity Guardian. It is not.
U.S. efforts to cobble together an international coalition to protect the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea against attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militias who demand an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war are stoking tensions with European allies.
On January 8, the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown called his Spanish counterpart Teodoro Lopez Calderon to, according to the official U.S. readout, discuss the “ongoing illegal Houthi attacks on commercial vessels operating in international waters in the Red Sea.” Pointedly, Brown “reiterated the U.S. desire to work with all nations who share an interest in upholding the principle of freedom of navigation and ensuring safe passage for global shipping.”
But according to recent reporting by veteran Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero, Washington has been pushing Spain a bit harder. U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro recently called the Spanish ambassador in Washington Santiago Cabanas to urge his government to join the U.S.-led anti-Houthi coalition, Operation Guardian Prosperity, and, according to Cembrero’s reporting, even went so far as issuing a deadline to Madrid to deliver an answer by January 11.
