From our nation’s earliest days, making the world safe for American commerce has been the foundation of our foreign policy. The first Barbary War at the start of the 19th century was one of our first overseas interventions, in which the Marine Corps took on pirates from the Barbary states of North Africa who had been raiding U.S. ships, stealing cargo and ransoming crews.
“To the shores of Tripoli,” the famous second line of the “The Marine’s Hymn,” recalls the Battle of Derna when Marines captured a Libyan fortress to restore security to the Mediterranean Sea.
At the same time, America’s early leaders were wary of becoming too beholden to other states specifically. President George Washington’s farewell address warned of this very risk: “The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.”
President Joe Biden’s administration, in its current Middle East policy, could take a lesson or two from our country’s early approach to foreign affairs priorities. Our no-strings-attached support for Israel in the Gaza crisis is hamstringing our attempts to stop Houthi terrorist attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. These attacks threaten our national interest. For all our commitments to Israel, the latest war between Israel and Hamas doesn’t.
Since Hamas’ horrific assault on Israel on Oct. 7, the Biden administration has maintained steadfast support for Israel, and that has come at the cost of the U.S. reputation and interests in the region and globally. While Israel had widespread support in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, that dissipated as its punishing campaign in Gaza caused massive civilian casualties with no consideration of what happens next.
U.S. officials have pressed the Israeli government to reduce civilian harm and increase humanitarian assistance in Gaza, to avoid unnecessarily perpetuating a cycle of violence. But they have also made clear that Israel will face no consequence for ignoring our advice, so that is how Israel has responded.
By continuing to support Israel’s approach anyway, the United States has contributed to an outcome that serves neither Israeli, Palestinian nor American interests in a more peaceful future and raises serious risk of escalation beyond Gaza.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government flirts with expanding the war north to Lebanon, as its skirmishes with Hezbollah heat up too, the Iran-backed Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea with drones and anti-ship missiles. The Houthis claim to be targeting ships coming to or from Israel, in retaliation for the ongoing operations in Gaza, but their attacks have been far less discriminating. This has led many major shippers, including Maersk, to reroute their fleets, going around the continent of Africa instead, adding 10 days of travel each way.
With about 15% of global trade relying on this trade route, the Houthis’ Red Sea attacks have implications far beyond the region. Consumers the world over will likely start feeling the impact soon.
In response, the United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition of states to counter the Houthi threat and ensure safe transit through the region. While the coalition has successfully shot down Houthi missiles and sunk several of their boats, the Houthis remain undeterred, and attacks continue.
This is, in part, because the coalition has struggled to gain support. The Pentagon claims 20 nations have joined so far, but many have chosen to remain unnamed or commit only minimal personnel and resources. Close U.S. partners such as Germany and Japan have not been named, and others such as India and France are sending ships on their own, choosing not to align publicly with the U.S. initiative. America’s unflinching support for Israel has made it hard for even our allies to stand by our side on issues of mutual interest in the region.
The idea was to take on the Houthis like the international community took on pirates off the coast of Somalia just over a decade ago. That operation garnered real global support, with even the Russian and Chinese navies coordinating with the United States and its allies. While the Houthis are a very different foe than ragtag Somali pirates, the interest in securing safe shipping lanes should still be a global one, and the weak international support for U.S. efforts should be a red flag.
Concern about how Israel’s actions risk an expanding conflict also hampered our initial response, even as it became clear that patrolling the Red Sea was insufficient to secure the sea lanes. This is why the Biden administration ultimately decided to escalate its response to strike Houthi military targets inside Yemen. A limited escalation of this kind is justified to secure the global commons, but with greater multilateral support to address the Houthi threat otherwise, we might have been able to avoid this riskier action.
[ Daniel DePetris: Will the US bomb the Houthis? ]
The U.S. government often overstates the American interests at stake that drive our interventions. Our unflinching commitment to this Israeli government is a good example of that. But, in our globalized world where we depend on free trade for both essential needs and prosperity, freedom of navigation is a concrete interest we must preserve.
Placating Israel’s maximalist ambitions simply isn’t worth the cost.
Elizabeth Shackelford is a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune. She was previously a U.S. diplomat and is the author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.”
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Elizabeth Shackelford: Chained to Israel, the US struggles to secure vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea
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12.01.2024
From our nation’s earliest days, making the world safe for American commerce has been the foundation of our foreign policy. The first Barbary War at the start of the 19th century was one of our first overseas interventions, in which the Marine Corps took on pirates from the Barbary states of North Africa who had been raiding U.S. ships, stealing cargo and ransoming crews.
“To the shores of Tripoli,” the famous second line of the “The Marine’s Hymn,” recalls the Battle of Derna when Marines captured a Libyan fortress to restore security to the Mediterranean Sea.
At the same time, America’s early leaders were wary of becoming too beholden to other states specifically. President George Washington’s farewell address warned of this very risk: “The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.”
President Joe Biden’s administration, in its current Middle East policy, could take a lesson or two from our country’s early approach to foreign affairs priorities. Our no-strings-attached support for Israel in the Gaza crisis is hamstringing our attempts to stop Houthi terrorist attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. These attacks threaten our national interest. For all our commitments to Israel, the latest war between Israel and Hamas doesn’t.
Since Hamas’ horrific assault on Israel on Oct. 7, the Biden administration has maintained steadfast support for Israel, and that........
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