Time to get real: role to play in Red Sea

Clive Bibby

Opinion

I watched an Australian interview with an ex four-star American General the other night and his comments said a lot about that country’s “free loader” contribution to world security.

Although the General was voicing his concern about the implications for Australia of not joining the international fleet protecting the Red Sea shipping lanes leading to and from the Suez Canal, one couldn’t escape the feeling he wasn’t just talking about the Aussies.

It is no secret that, as a trading nation dependent on maintaining safe passage for our exports to European markets — and the lower freight costs associated with the Mediterranean route as opposed to the longer trip around southern Africa — New Zealand too must be concerned with the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels’ attempts to disrupt shipping trade. But what should we do about it?

While it is good to see we joined the coalition (albeit in name only) in support of retaliatory attacks, it would appear that both Australia’s and New Zealand’s Governments are pretending they are unable to send a vessel capable of making a meaningful contribution to the taskforce charged with confronting the pirates mid-stream.

Whatever the reason given, the most likely one is that we are concerned about engaging with Iran in a situation where we could suffer the consequences of such (some would say precipitate) actions.

Iran is already totally involved by proxy as the main sponsor of all the terrorist groups operating in the Middle East conflict and has — thanks to American appeasement policies — built a war chest in the billions that it will continue to use anywhere it thinks it has an advantage over its adversaries.

But, as the General was saying, Iran is in this battle for the long haul and will not be distracted from its jihad simply because a couple of Anzac nations decide they have a moral duty to be involved alongside their traditional allies.

However, sooner or later, those of us with so much to lose will have to join the coalition of the willing in a more meaningful way, rather than sit on the fence waiting for the big boys in our team to do all the heavy lifting.

If we don’t step up, there is every likelihood an emboldened Iran will prevail in every arena where it wants to be a player.

The warning signs of that happening in the Ukraine are already showing as another aggressor, Putin, digs in — and the Americans look like they could withdraw, leaving the Ukrainians more isolated.

The Ukrainian war ebbs and flows depending on how much responsibility the European members of Nato accept as their share of Ukraine’s war effort.

That war could have been over long ago had the Biden administration pointed out to its Nato allies that there is a limit to the US ability to police the world hotspots, and the time is well past when those who stand to lose the most need to be operating at the coalface in defence of their own interests.

In the Middle East, pressure from a woke United States and international community could see the same thing happening in Gaza and on Israel’s other borders with Arab states. We are at a point where Israel could lose its hard-won momentum and be forced to settle for a ceasefire, when it was on the verge of eradicating Hamas for good.

That result would be seen by most observers as a defeat. We shouldn’t allow it to happen.