Crosetto has announced the deployment of warships to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, drawing Italy ever deeper into a global conflict. There is an urgent need to provide a clear response to warmongering policies-opposing new military expeditions and calling for the withdrawal of all missions abroad. It is difficult at this moment to predict what will happen in the coming days or what actions will actually follow Defense Minister Crosetto's statements. Certainly, the advance of the Houthi Supreme Political Council's troops in Yemen has rapidly altered the situation, exposing the difficulties and vulnerabilities of Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Italy.
The situation is complex to assess. To understand current events, it is helpful to summarize a few key facts. A civil war has been underway in Yemen since 2014, when the Houthi Supreme Political Council-a Zaydi Shia force with long-standing ties to Iran-captured the capital, Sana'a. This marked the beginning of a protracted conflict: first against forces loyal to the regime of President Hadi (backed by the US and Saudi Arabia), and subsequently-following the collapse of peace talks after Hadi's departure in 2022-against the Presidential Leadership Council, which remains the only Yemeni government recognized by the so-called international community. Amidst Israel's war in Gaza (which began in 2023) and the broader conflict involving Iran, the US, and Israel (ongoing since last March), the Houthis have repeatedly intervened in support of their allies. In recent months, the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz has lent new strategic importance to the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Since last March, Saudi Arabia has decided to shift a significant portion of its oil traffic to the East-West Petroline pipeline-which runs from the Abqaiq fields in the Persian Gulf to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea and had previously been underutilized-and has begun operating it at full capacity. Since then, attacks have intensified along the 1,201-kilometer route, which cuts across the Arabian Peninsula and comprises 13 pumping stations. The infrastructure's vulnerability to sabotage and military strikes compounds an already complex situation; indeed, due to facility limitations, even in peacetime, this solution would not have enabled Saudi Arabia to supply the same quantity and quality of oil as shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, thereby calling into question its role as a global oil supplier. Starting September 3, the Houthis launched an offensive, seizing control of nearly the entire western coast of Yemen-and effectively the Bab el-Mandeb Strait-by occupying the key islands in this strategic waterway. Following drone attacks on the pipeline, Saudi Arabia shut down the entire line on September 11 for safety reasons. In the days that followed, Houthi forces advanced further within Yemen, while drone strikes against Saudi Arabia continued. It was against this backdrop that Crosetto announced the deployment of warships to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the afternoon of September 17 at the "Risorsa Mare" (Marine Resources) Forum in La Spezia, an event attended by numerous representatives from the government, the armed forces, and the shipping, freight forwarding, and port sectors. Crosetto stated that Italy was prepared to send the ships on its own and that Italian "bureaucracy" would not conflict with European procedures-a clear reference to internal issues within the European mission, Aspides. A few hours later, during the night of September 17-18, Houthi forces struck the King Fahd Air Base in Taif, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca. One of the four Italian Eurofighters deployed at the base as part of the "Task Force Air Arabia" mission was destroyed in the attack. According to news agency reports, the base houses 300 Italian military personnel alongside troops from Saudi Arabia, the United States, and other nations. Italian troops have been present in the region for some time, but this specific mission has been underway since the second half of March; overall, it involves the deployment of 300 personnel, four Eurofighters, an airborne early warning aircraft, and two C-130J transport planes. The mission has largely flown under the radar, partly due to new authorization procedures for overseas military operations; these no longer require specifying the exact country or area of deployment for expeditionary forces, but instead frame missions within broader parameters, allowing for the redeployment of personnel and assets across wide geographical regions.
As previously noted in these pages-particularly regarding the formation of a rapid intervention force-the new procedure is better suited to a context of global warfare, granting the government significant room for maneuver. Consequently, the management and restructuring of these missions increasingly resemble the conduct of a military campaign.
In addition to Task Force Air Arabia, Task Force Land Cerbero is also deployed in the Gulf region; it comprises 260 troops, SAMP/T anti-missile units, advanced radar systems, and air defense systems capable of countering small- and medium-sized drones.
At present, there is no news of a Council of Ministers meeting, nor has an address to Parliament by Minister Crosetto been announced; for now, we are dealing only with statements he made before the "masters of the sea" in the militarized city of La Spezia. Indeed, the only tangible outcome-at least to our knowledge-is the escort provided by the frigate *Bergamini* to the *Jolly Oro* container ship (owned by the Ignazio Messina company) as it sails toward Suez. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has drastically cut oil exports, and the US appears to be struggling-or has at least decided against direct intervention so far-limiting itself to supporting Saudi Arabia, which is currently bombing Houthi targets. Whatever developments unfold in the coming hours, the words Crosetto spoke over the weekend-following the attack that struck Italian aircraft-seem paradoxical: "We are not at war." This statement, which he has been repeating since last March, is unfortunately belied by the reality on the ground. For while Rome may not have formally declared war on the government in Sana'a, Italian troops are present throughout the region, supporting nations deeply involved in this conflict. This is not to mention the weapons and equipment that reached Saudi Arabia-either via Italy or directly from it-fueling the civil war in Yemen all these years. Suffice it to say that this was the very issue that sparked the 2019 campaign by dockworker groups against arms shipments at the port of Genoa-a protest that subsequently spread to other ports.
Furthermore, Italian troops are deployed as part of Operation Aspides and anti-piracy missions between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean; crucially, however, they are also present on the opposite side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through missions in Somalia and a military base in Djibouti. A significant portion of Italy's military reach, as well as its economic and political interests, is focused on this region. In such a context, committing to safeguard "freedom of navigation"-naturally, only for major shipowners and financial groups-is not much different from declaring war.
Dario Antonelli
https://umanitanova.org/questa-non-e-una-guerra/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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