A good way to stop the Houthis attacking shipping is to properly address the war in Gaza. Peace in Gaza would lead to peace for Red Sea shipping. NZ should be adding to the international demands that Israel stop their blockade and attacks on Gaza.
Except the Houthis terrorists have been attacking ships and other targets since well before the Hamas invasion of Israel. The only way to stop them is to destroy them - same as Hamas.
While they might claim some perverse justification, or perhaps they don't know what they're doing, but they have indeed been attacking all sorts of things - including "24 successful or attempted Houthi maritime drone [floating bombs more precisely] attacks carried out between January 2017 and June 2021" involving commercial shipping vessels sailing under different flags. https://warontherocks.com/2021/09/red-sea-drones-how-to-counter-houthi-maritime-tactics/
The Houthi slogan is: "God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam". The Jewish Yemeni have been murdered and persecuted out of existence - from 50,000 a hundred years ago. Now they want the same for the ones in Israel, and everywhere if their slogan is to be believed.
There's nothing particularly unusual in that, and it's not just the Jews. Ethnic and religious persecution and genocide has been a feature for over a thousand years. Look what happened to the Zoroastrians, Armenians, Bedouins and Berbers, the Buddhists and Christians of the Middle East and North Africa. Or, more recently, the people of sub Saharan Africa - the hundreds of Nigerian Christians massacred and mutilated just this Christmas for example.
Unlike the useful idiots in the west the Israeli people know all of that and that's why they are forced to fight for their lives..
It's an interesting article but it in no way contradicts my main point. Those ships hit in 2017-2021 were either warships enforcing a blockade or directly trading with Saudi Arabia. Commercial ships trading with belligerents in wartime are not innocent civilians minding their own peaceful business.
We hear that these attacks are "illegal" yet the exact law that it violates is never mentioned. Sinking or otherwise interdicting supplies in wartime has always been regarded as normal practice. The US Navy has been stopping and sinking commercial ships as recently as last week. The British Navy has been doing it for centuries.
It's very important to realize that The Houthis /Ansar Allah are not mad dogs., they are the first group in history to score an operational hit with an anti-ship ballistic missile, they aren't idiots. No doubt, mistakes are always possible but the idea that " perhaps they don't know what they're doing, " is just not credible.
There is every reason to suggest that they will respond to both carrots and sticks, they've made deals with Saudi Arabia after several years of war, and if there is to be any law in international affairs, we cannot allow it to be whatever law Washington, London or Brussels decide to write for themselves.
The Houthis (not a sovereign state BTW) hit an empty Greek freighter with a missile last week destroying it's forward deck structure, luckily no one was killed . Today they hit a British oil tanker, it's now on fire and in danger of sinking and liable to cause a major mess to the environment . This is commercial shipping so God knows what justification there can be but their "useful idiots" can probably think of something. Speaking of stupid; our Maritime union just endorsed the Houthis terrorists. "Mariners for Piracy" is about as crazy as "Turkeys for Christmas" or "Gays for Gaza."
I believe that far more important than knowing the particular details of any specific situation is gaining an understanding of the laws by which the universe and human affairs are governed.
I'm not sure if I am comfortable in trying to describe all human affairs in terms of "Human Rights" as that is a notoriously slippery concept, but IF there is such a thing as a right for a human to possess and use weapons then it is a natural right, created by a person's state in the natural world, not by some fictitious entity called a "Sovereign State' all of which are, of course, just created and recognized by other sovereign states, a self-recursive fiction.
I don't know your background, but I think it's very likely that you could look back through history, or even at the world to today and find someone, or some group, that has correctly and justifiably used lethal force without the legal sanction of a sovereign state.
A personal favorite of mine is George Washington. An honorable man, a brave commander and great president who was also a rebel and a traitor. There is no contradiction here, as the Chinese say,
"After the battle the Outlaw becomes the Emperor, and the Emperor becomes an Outlaw.
The declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Treaty of Paris 1783 just legally formalized the reality of the situation, they didn't create those realities.
It is the actual realities that we must conform to not legal documents describing theoretical abstractions.
The Houthis are at war with Israel and now Britian and America, that Greek ship that you referred to is probably the "Zografia" and was bound for Israel and so was part of that war.
We must live within natural reality and not legal fictions, and I do not believe that there is a natural law that allows you to attack and defend against me but prohibits me from doing likewise in return.
I am amazed at Peters denying any link between the Houthi's actions and the actions of Israel in Gaza. The Houthis have stated explicitly this is the actual reason for their attacks on Israel-linked shipping. It seems to me Peters is denying the actual reality of what is happening. Very disappointing that NZ does not do more to be against Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza.
Peters and Luxon are just plain wrong in their assertions that the Houthi shipping attacks are nothing to do with Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide actions in Gaza.
"it could be the beginning of the end for New Zealand’s independent foreign policy.'
When has New Zealand EVER had an independent foreign policy?
Seriously, every major overseas endeavor undertaken by New Zealand has been in support of a plan drawn up in a foreign capital, either London or Washington (and to a certain extent Canberra).
Without an independent capacity the chance of an independent policy is zero.
(FWIW I'm also posting this comment under this article on The Daily Blog. Let's see if it survives. Martyn Bradbury is extremely censorious and anything not complimentary of his world view tends to be deleted into the void.)
A good way to stop the Houthis attacking shipping is to properly address the war in Gaza. Peace in Gaza would lead to peace for Red Sea shipping. NZ should be adding to the international demands that Israel stop their blockade and attacks on Gaza.
Except the Houthis terrorists have been attacking ships and other targets since well before the Hamas invasion of Israel. The only way to stop them is to destroy them - same as Hamas.
What targets and what ships? The Houthis previous attacks have been on forces directly at war with them.
While they might claim some perverse justification, or perhaps they don't know what they're doing, but they have indeed been attacking all sorts of things - including "24 successful or attempted Houthi maritime drone [floating bombs more precisely] attacks carried out between January 2017 and June 2021" involving commercial shipping vessels sailing under different flags. https://warontherocks.com/2021/09/red-sea-drones-how-to-counter-houthi-maritime-tactics/
The Houthi slogan is: "God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam". The Jewish Yemeni have been murdered and persecuted out of existence - from 50,000 a hundred years ago. Now they want the same for the ones in Israel, and everywhere if their slogan is to be believed.
There's nothing particularly unusual in that, and it's not just the Jews. Ethnic and religious persecution and genocide has been a feature for over a thousand years. Look what happened to the Zoroastrians, Armenians, Bedouins and Berbers, the Buddhists and Christians of the Middle East and North Africa. Or, more recently, the people of sub Saharan Africa - the hundreds of Nigerian Christians massacred and mutilated just this Christmas for example.
Unlike the useful idiots in the west the Israeli people know all of that and that's why they are forced to fight for their lives..
It's an interesting article but it in no way contradicts my main point. Those ships hit in 2017-2021 were either warships enforcing a blockade or directly trading with Saudi Arabia. Commercial ships trading with belligerents in wartime are not innocent civilians minding their own peaceful business.
We hear that these attacks are "illegal" yet the exact law that it violates is never mentioned. Sinking or otherwise interdicting supplies in wartime has always been regarded as normal practice. The US Navy has been stopping and sinking commercial ships as recently as last week. The British Navy has been doing it for centuries.
It's very important to realize that The Houthis /Ansar Allah are not mad dogs., they are the first group in history to score an operational hit with an anti-ship ballistic missile, they aren't idiots. No doubt, mistakes are always possible but the idea that " perhaps they don't know what they're doing, " is just not credible.
There is every reason to suggest that they will respond to both carrots and sticks, they've made deals with Saudi Arabia after several years of war, and if there is to be any law in international affairs, we cannot allow it to be whatever law Washington, London or Brussels decide to write for themselves.
The Houthis (not a sovereign state BTW) hit an empty Greek freighter with a missile last week destroying it's forward deck structure, luckily no one was killed . Today they hit a British oil tanker, it's now on fire and in danger of sinking and liable to cause a major mess to the environment . This is commercial shipping so God knows what justification there can be but their "useful idiots" can probably think of something. Speaking of stupid; our Maritime union just endorsed the Houthis terrorists. "Mariners for Piracy" is about as crazy as "Turkeys for Christmas" or "Gays for Gaza."
I believe that far more important than knowing the particular details of any specific situation is gaining an understanding of the laws by which the universe and human affairs are governed.
I'm not sure if I am comfortable in trying to describe all human affairs in terms of "Human Rights" as that is a notoriously slippery concept, but IF there is such a thing as a right for a human to possess and use weapons then it is a natural right, created by a person's state in the natural world, not by some fictitious entity called a "Sovereign State' all of which are, of course, just created and recognized by other sovereign states, a self-recursive fiction.
I don't know your background, but I think it's very likely that you could look back through history, or even at the world to today and find someone, or some group, that has correctly and justifiably used lethal force without the legal sanction of a sovereign state.
A personal favorite of mine is George Washington. An honorable man, a brave commander and great president who was also a rebel and a traitor. There is no contradiction here, as the Chinese say,
"After the battle the Outlaw becomes the Emperor, and the Emperor becomes an Outlaw.
The declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Treaty of Paris 1783 just legally formalized the reality of the situation, they didn't create those realities.
It is the actual realities that we must conform to not legal documents describing theoretical abstractions.
The Houthis are at war with Israel and now Britian and America, that Greek ship that you referred to is probably the "Zografia" and was bound for Israel and so was part of that war.
We must live within natural reality and not legal fictions, and I do not believe that there is a natural law that allows you to attack and defend against me but prohibits me from doing likewise in return.
BTW: The Islamist terrorist organisation Boko Haram has murdered 40 000 Nigerians since 2009 and more than 3 million people have fled the violence.
Seen any protests about that? Anyone?
I am amazed at Peters denying any link between the Houthi's actions and the actions of Israel in Gaza. The Houthis have stated explicitly this is the actual reason for their attacks on Israel-linked shipping. It seems to me Peters is denying the actual reality of what is happening. Very disappointing that NZ does not do more to be against Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza.
Peters and Luxon are just plain wrong in their assertions that the Houthi shipping attacks are nothing to do with Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide actions in Gaza.
"it could be the beginning of the end for New Zealand’s independent foreign policy.'
When has New Zealand EVER had an independent foreign policy?
Seriously, every major overseas endeavor undertaken by New Zealand has been in support of a plan drawn up in a foreign capital, either London or Washington (and to a certain extent Canberra).
Without an independent capacity the chance of an independent policy is zero.
(FWIW I'm also posting this comment under this article on The Daily Blog. Let's see if it survives. Martyn Bradbury is extremely censorious and anything not complimentary of his world view tends to be deleted into the void.)
But that would deny Peter's schmoozing at the US embassy