The Wire - December 11, 2023

RR The Wire 2030Z December 11, 2023PRECEDENCE: ROUTINE RRDTG: 203011Z DEC 23ICOD: 193011Z DEC 23CONTROLS: Public ReleaseQQQQBLUF: TENSIONS INCREASE IN THE RED SEA. UKRAINE PEACE TALKS LIKELY TO BEGIN IN JANUARY. -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Red Sea: Yemen announces what amounts to a blockade of the Red Sea for all Israeli-affiliated shipping. Yemeni forces have claimed that they will target all commercial shipping owned by or affiliated with Israeli companies. AC: It is unclear as to what Yemen’s standards are for shipping being “Israeli affiliated”. Throughout this conflict so far, many groups opposed to Israel have targeted American forces (such as American military bases in Iraq and Syria), or other nations that are in some way linked to Israel. Adding in international shipping norms complicates the situation further. Commercial shipping, on any given day, is a grand shell game. It is rare for a ship to be registered in the nation that it supplies. For instance, the M/V GALAXY LEADER (the first ship captured by Yemeni forces) has a rather confusing history. The vessel itself physically carries the flag of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, a former British colony. This vessel was chartered by a Japanese company (NYK) to transport vehicles. However, the vessel is owned by Ray Car Carriers, which despite being registered as a business in the Isle of Man, was founded by an Israeli business magnate. Regarding the crew physically operating the vessel, 17 members of the crew are Filipino, and the rest are from an assortment of nations such as Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and so on. In the case of this one ship, at least a dozen nations are involved at some point regarding the operation of this vessel. This means that it’s rather difficult to determine what Yemen’s criteria is for a vessel being “Israeli-affiliated”, which in turn increases the risk for virtually all commercial shipping transiting the Red Sea.Europe: In Switzerland, several media groups have announced the scheduling of peace talks regarding the Ukrainian war. During his visit to Argentina, Ukrainian President Zelensky floated the idea that peace talks will begin at the World Economic Forum, the day before that event gets underway in January. AC: If these claims are true, the peace talks taking place at such an infamous organization clearly sends a message as to the controlling interests at play regarding a post-war Ukraine.-Homefront-USA: The DoD announces the implementation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) to send arms to Israel. This Act allows the DoD to bypass the normal process and send arms to Israel without Congressional approval. In this case, this law is allegedly being used to send tank shells to Israel, though without Congressional oversight there is little confirmation of any of these details.