Two of America’s European allies who were listed as contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian — Italy and Spain — issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force.
The Pentagon says the force is a defensive coalition of more than 20 nations to ensure billions of dollars’ worth of commerce can flow freely through a vital shipping chokepoint in Red Sea waters off Yemen.
But nearly half of those countries have so far not come forward to acknowledge their contributions or allowed the US to do so. Those contributions can range from dispatching warships to merely sending a staff officer.
The reluctance of some US allies to link themselves to the effort partly reflects the fissures created by Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, which has seen Biden maintain firm support for Israel even as international criticism rises over its offensive sparked by the October 7 Hamas onslaught, in which 1,200 people were murdered and over 240 hostages kidnapped, mostly civilians. READ MORE