As Progressive-Democrat President Timid Joe Biden continues to respond to Houthi terrorist attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea with namby-pamby—the recent strikes against some terrorist launch sites in Houthi-occupied western Yemen are proving to be a one-off, with Houthi attacks continuing, with Biden shying away from further response (his Tuesday potshots don’t count)—Egypt is suffering considerable shipping drops from the reduced shipping through its Suez Canal.
International Monetary Fund figures show 35% less cargo was transported through the Suez Canal in the first week of 2024 compared with the same period last year.
The shipping rate drop is made clear in these graphs. The first is an Agence France-Presse graph:
This one is from the IMF’s Port Watch:
The key part of this 4-yr graph is the blue-highlighted last-six-months date range at the right. The rest of the four years just shows how steady shipping was before the Houthi attacks and Biden’s timidity in the face of them.
As usual, right click and select the Open Image in New Tab option for a larger versions of the graphs.
From that shipping drop, Egypt’s Suez Canal-related revenue is down 40% in just the first 10 days of this year compared to 2023, as a result of the Houthis’ attacks.
The Houthis’ terrorist attacks on commercial shipping aren’t what’s isolating the Suez Canal from the world’s shipping lanes, though. It’s Biden’s tolerance for those attacks, and his meek acceptance of them as the new status quo, that are doing that.
Not to mention the appalling nature of the “redesignation” of the Houthis as bad guys – no formal designation as a terrorist organization, many carve outs for food, medicines, and financial aid (who do you think gets first dibs on all of that? Hint – it ain’t the poor huddled masses, yearning to be free …). And … we are giving them 30 days notice before it kicks in. That’s our Foreign Policy Experts at work. https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designation-of-the-houthis/
Heaven help us.