The US Navy and the Houthi Pirate War versus the Barbary Pirate War

[@Richard-od7yd]

To quote the HISTORY GUY " and don't all good stories begin with Pirates? "

[@drmodestoesq]

What kind of socks do pirates wear? Arrrrrrrhhhh- gyles.

[@davidg3944]

@@drmodestoesq I see the Good Ship "Dadjoke" is on station...

[@edroth7612]

very punny ! ! ! ! @@drmodestoesq

[@pansepot1490]

Lol, reminds me of a 2000 year old Ancient Greek novel that starts with the girl protagonist being kidnapped by pirates to be sold as slave. 😊

[@robertf3479]

I bought "Six Frigates" shortly after it first was released and it saw me through recovery from my fourth abdominal cancer surgery. Guys, this book is very well researched and very well written. Like Sal I highly recommend it.

[@zemog1025]

Thanks for the walk down memory lane, I grew up reading about Barbery Pirates, US Frigates and Marines. The Houthi are not a case of piracy, but rather a case of strategic economic blockade, a far more sophisticated undertaking.

[@LibertysetsquareJack]

The Barbary States were used to exert strategic influence on behalf of the Ottoman Empire.

[@davidlasoff8261]

US owned but foreign flagged is extremely thin veneer here since the Marshall Islands are, in fact, a US protectorate. If you are a citizen of the Marshall Islands and travel on your country's passport, you don't need a visa to enter nor to indefinitely stay or take up residency in the USA or any of her territories and vice versa and can get all the benefits of living in any state of the union, not exactly a foreign country and in the treaty, the USA is obligated to protect their citizens and property.

[@eide_ball]

Anyone who does not give his or her tax to US Government not deserve to protect by troops

[@MicMc539]

Tell that to Gonzalo Lira!

[@fat4eyes]

@@eide_ballWhat about foreign ships carrying US cargo? What about foreign ships carrying cargo for suppliers to US companies? Where do you draw the line?

[@ericsonhazeltine5064]

And the reverse is true.

[@Ganiscol]

@@fat4eyes they draw the line at the tip of their nose - they dont look further than that. 😂 Its actually quite sad, because they are on a channel explaining it to them. Time and time and time and time and time again. Even with easy to understand charts.

[@kleetus88]

thanks for talking about the connections between the origins of the US Navy and today's troubles. As a former US Navy submarine salior, I don't think people really know this history.

[@Rambam1776]

Same here, Los Angeles class Jefferson city. What was your boat?

[@mike-cherylsmithson9539]

I was a topsider, a cruiser, or, from what submariners have told me in the past, we were a "target." I remember the shirts at Dam Neck.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

You know…… most bubble heads I met referred to themselves as submariners. More over the connection goes back to Humphrey’s type 44 gun frigates, Jefferson’s hypocrisy, and our unwillingness to be extorted by pirates. It’s odd to think when we were barely a nation we had less tolerance for the Bull $h1t in the Middle East than we have today. We should have deposed the king of Tripoli back then.

[@byronharano2391]

Aloha Shipmate!

[@bassmechanic237]

An old bubblehead here as well. Aganger aboard the SSBN Nebraska, before she was turned into a SSGN. I really do miss my old div and boat. I made some great memories, especially when I earned my dolphins. That was an achievement for me. Though this was in the early 90s, back when you could still tie-up Nubs with EABs on them and start questioning them about the systems they had signed off on their Qual card. Every time you got a wrong answer, they would start turning off the air valve going to the manifold your EAB was plugged into. They didn't choke you out, but it damn sure scared the crap out of ya. I can't even imagine what it's like now with women allowed on boats now. No more helicoptering down the walkway coming back from the showers, while singing some 2 live crew I guess. Nice to meet ya.

[@ted356]

Good episode! Thanks for sharing and reminding us that these conflicts are nothing new. The bottom line is that this critical lifeline is effectively throttled and no easy solution is apparent.

[@MicMc539]

QUote. ''and no easy solution is apparent.'' ,well not to the U.S.! Surprising how China and Russia managed it with DIPLOMACY. Who'd a thunk it?

[@AaronKing-mi6gs]

Gyghhy me kkjjj

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

🔹II Chronicles 7: 14 is the solution. It is sure. The United States is Ephraim in the Bible, the strongest tribe of Israel grown to nation size. The real US people must turn to obeying 🔹Exodus 20 including v 10 before 🔹II Chronicles 7: 14 will be granted.

[@stevengill1736]

They used to call the waterfront of San Francisco " the Barbary coast" too, but of course that was more the late 1850s era, Chinatown plus the gambling dens and the early merchant marine...must have been a wild scene! Cheers... PS: as an ex-merchant mariner I enjoy these historical overlooks too!

[@steventoby3768]

I read about the Barbary Pirates in my teens and thought I knew the story -- I didn't realize that there had been additional tribute payments after the bombardment of Tripoli. Guess I need to read that book "Six Frigates" -- you're not the first expert to recommend it.

[@Formulabruce]

The pirates were all Muslims...

[@michaelreedx6823]

Remember there were two Barbary Wars, you have to give it to politicains (Tobias Lear in this instance.) they tend to leave jobs half way done, and then expect it not to come back and bite them.

[@sjsomething4936]

US viewers should start a write-in campaign to help get Sal on as an embedded reporter!

[@darrelllancaster9554]

Best news show on KZbin. No ship. 👍⚓

[@peters-adventure]

Great presentation Sal! Thanks also for the recommendation to read "Six Frigates" by Ian W. Toll!

[@Architek79]

This has become one of my favorite channels!

[@heyidiot]

The words in the Marine's Hymn, _"...to the shores of Tripoli."_ derives from the conflict with the Barbary pirates. Also, the term "Leathernecks", from the strips of leather the Marines would wear around their necks as protection from the slashing of pirate scimitars.

[@johngillespie3409]

That's where the Marine Corps got the sword from also. Go Navy 🇺🇲

[@revpgesqredux]

Same totalitarian false religion is problematically involved still... Curious

[@revpgesqredux]

A clown ideology that authorizes ransom as a tactic and strategy 🤔

[@jennifersilves4195]

Ansarallah isn't killing anyone. The tanker seized was being taken BACK. The US illegally seized it last year and Iran just got it back.

[@jk.tal22]

Great content. Broad perspective and understanding.

[@agcala9619]

Thank you. Video full of important information that will affect all of us. Eva

[@hessex1899]

I strongly recommend watching The Fat Electrician's video on the Barbary Pirate "issue". :)

[@bobdelano6746]

Thank you, for helping those of us that are currious. God bless ❤

[@AdastraRecordings]

This is awesome, thanks so much Prof.

[@robertwazniak9495]

As The History Guy says “don’t all good stories involve pirates?”

[@petergroves9343]

Thanks for the update Sal, great job

[@allurbase]

You are one of the few unbiased channels out there.

[@poojay01]

Great episode Sal. I'm going to purchase Six Frigates book for my son Presley O'Bannon.

[@ellen6229]

Thanks Sal, Always Appreciated 😊🙏

[@CarlAlex2]

Those Barbary pirates where not just taking ships and crews ransom. The also raided the coasts of Europe as far north as Iceland for slaves. Somewhere between 1 and 2 million Europeans were sold in the North African slave trade. For some reason this part of the African slave trade is almost always ignored, but it was very real.

[@aymala9906]

Can I get a source for those numbers please ? 1 million slaves seems a lot of people for medieval times.

[@aymala9906]

Nevermind. It only took a minute to find out it's a single "historian" who decided to extrapolate from the available records ... Here's a ripoff from Wikipedia : "However, these numbers are estimated and provided by only one historian, Robert Davis, and have been questioned by others like David Earle".

[@CarlAlex2]

@@aymala9906 How familiar are you with history as an academic discipline? To begin with you associate the subject you comment on to the middle ages that ended about 200 years earlier. It happend during the late Renaissance, the age of reason and early modernity. It is also not an accurate science - its in the humanities. You study the sources and do you best to fill in the blanks that will be there by the nature of the subject. Any figure for how many Europeans where traded in the North African slave trade will be an estimate - just like the figures for the contemporary East(to the Near- and Middle East) - and West(Atlantic) African slave trades. That historians disagree is nothing new and cannot in itself be taken as evidence that either party is right without looking at the sources and the methodology used to derive the results. That you happen to find a Wikipaedia page only citing one source says nothing about that being the only one - there can easily be others with similar or even higher estimates. Wikipaedia is not a formal scholarly work - it is an encyclopaedia authored by amateurs. A proper litterature study to get an overview of what is written on a subject is a lot more involved and often requires tool that are behind very high pay walls that will only allow you access on site at reseach libraries.

[@Stinger913]

@@aymala9906prob some dude trying to say whites enslaving blacks is justified because they enslaved each other and ig enslaved whites?! Almost as if slavery itself is 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@revpgesqredux]

I must have missed the declaration of war and the Congressional uproar or debates???

[@Rambam1776]

Thank you for helping me maintain my sanity.

[@blueeyedbiker681]

Thank you Sal! You Sir are a very valuable resource! Been watching you for the last 3-4 years!

[@abiibabiib4108]

Thanks a lot. I’m from Somaliland and live at Berbera Somaliland at the Gulf of Aiden.

[@simonjusticier333]

Hush up! You are Somalian from Somalia. Stop the tribalism before Africa ends up with 10,000 tribal countries.

[@MultiKbarry]

Hopefully more nations recognize your nation soon.

[@davidg3944]

@@simonjusticier333 We in America should consider that issue too. Plenty of groups here forming separatist movements - some from ignorance, some from blindly following demagogues, some from personal greed (wanting to be warlords), etc. Historically it doesn't work out well for the majority...

[@MrRainrunner]

Sal, as usual, a great segment but you skipped the famous "Treaty of Tripoli"! In fact, maybe we can just send that document to the Houthi's? To make clear our religious standing?

[@rocistone6570]

Please stay right where you are! I can see wanting to go out there, but you are providing a public service that is badly needed when factual and historical clarity is vital to understanding events. Finally, someone is linking the truth of history to events in this complicated region. A source like you should not be risked. This situation is fluid and dynamic, and will not end soon. In short, we need you!

[@Van-uc1hl]

History-what comes around goes around-lest we forget

[@steverogers6131]

Thanks Dr Sal, appreciate the info and education

[@andytaylor3098]

hi thanks sal so much information we seem to being stopped from knowing whats happening in the UK even though our navy have been involved with your navy we get bits of information from the media but knot much so thank you and please keep us all up to date with developments

[@davidty2006]

only bit of naval news is the minesweepers in the gulf bumping into eachother.

[@sarahbrown5073]

@@davidty2006 I saw a picture of the damage and found it quite puzzling. What kind of minesweeper has a fiberglass hull?

[@davidty2006]

@@sarahbrown5073 a one that doesn't want to be detected by mines.

[@hallmobility]

WWII minesweepers had wooden hulls! Some mines are magnetic, and a steel or iron hull would detonate them. So non-magnetic materials. @@sarahbrown5073

[@allegropiano2000]

Thank you for this comparison, I was going to look into the similarities myself but now can relax and listen.

[@GNARGNARHEAD]

a great piece of history I was mostly unaware of, thanks

[@laurenglass4514]

Concise and understandable, thank you.

[@danielkershaw5998]

Sal, that was brilliant! Many thanks mate.

[@sirpeabody6217]

G'day from another Volunteer Firefighter from Oz. 🚒 Love ya work, mate. 🦘

[@stco2426]

~15:30 for the little bit is telling adn this is just one of the potential consequences. Great work and I like the Long View perspective. The past is not a playbook for now or the future, but the lessons are important or we may repeat the mistakes. Keep up the good work.

[@Erik_Ice_Fang]

"Six Frigates" is a wonderful book. A huge amount of detail and context the explain the early days of the US Navy. I have seen it on recommended reading list by US Navy officers as well.

[@TheVigilant109]

Many thanks Sal. Great update and history lesson

[@tinap.5064]

Thanks! Love your show!

[@wgowshipping]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@tonynewton3895]

Very interesting..thanks for

[@JonathanARae]

Insurance: Is it required to interface with ports? Does your ship get seized, or fined if you don't use it? What happens if a ship operates without insurance? Sounds like a play to play racket.

[@richard999]

Great historical review and interesting how the Barbary pirate wars were finished - tributes and a French colonisation.

[@fittekowner]

We won the Barbary Pirate war and it became part of the USMC history That is where the "to the shores of Tripoli " came from in our anthem. Semper Fi

[@mackfisher4487]

Should the maritime shipping industry repays the Navy for the expenditure of ordinance to protect them?

[@alexbuilds706]

Sal the content just keeps lighting fires 🔥 Keep it up man!

[@grahamjackson6589]

It's no coincidence that everything started going hot in Mideast after India Mideast Europe corridor was made public

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

😊

[@100colinrr]

There will be an inverse relation as the number of ships going through decreases the likelihood your ship going through will be targeted increases.

[@AmazingPhilippines1]

i agree, the USA pirate conflict of yesteryear is interesting reading.

[@jamieo8653]

Professor, you are fighting to reduce saying Bab-el-Mandeb! Do you need to make a packy run? Great channel Sal. Amazing how history repeats itself. Thank you for the education!!🇺🇸

[@sdebeaubien]

"It's economic my dear Watson". But paying off pirates amounts to "Tribute" as pointed out, and tribute, aka "Shipping tolls" results in more shipping tolls, more appeasement. And paying pirates/terrorists only leads to more.

[@amcguinn0]

It would be good to look more at the economics of the present situation. One major question is how long this goes on for before you start to get demand destruction - in the short to medium term this is profiting the ship owners since the same amount of cargo is chasing a smaller effective fleet capacity. But over time the price pressure could produce substitution of more local production for inter-continental imports in various markets, reducing demand. Maybe you could look at that or set up a conversation with an economist like Tyler Cowen.

[@Revolver1701]

I love Ian Toll’s writing.

[@MADHIKER777]

History repeats itself!

[@JohnDrummondVA]

Love your content, Professor! It's a whole ongoing course right here on youtube. My salty nerdy soul enjoys the heck out of it.

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

I can say insurance rates isn't about actual risk. It's usually about either perceived risk or some way that through some statistic or study they can justify rates. They will then pull every other law, study, "industry standard" to get out of paying anything they can.

[@davidg3944]

Even more than birds, "insurance" isn't real.

[@rolandthethompsongunner64]

I honestly don’t see any correlation between Houthis who are attempting to sink ships with missiles and drones and pirates who attempted to commandeer ships for their crew, ship, and cargo. Although they have seized one ship. I don’t think that’s their main objective. But you go Sal 👍

[@dananorth895]

All acts of piracy, whether for economic, military or political strategy. I do believe you are splitting hairs dear sir!

[@wantrevize]

Good info lace with propaganda IS propaganda. 😂😂😂

[@fractalmadness9253]

And piracy is piracy, shiver me timbers

[@davidty2006]

they have attempted to comandeer ships. though last attempt which was Maersk Hangzhou they had a VERY bad time against a seahawk.

[@michaelreedx6823]

DId you miss the video where they flew a helicopter onto a ship and commandeered it?

[@ShawnDunca-bc2ru]

Was the mear flesh wound a Monty paython reference??

[@vanceshaw3675]

Thx! Great video. Whatb did the Allies do with ship insurance during WW1 and WW2? Did the governments take first loss position? THX

[@kurtkohl151]

History can and probably is repeating itself. Any updates on the Iranian targeting ship floating around the red sea?

[@jamesburns8247]

Great subject. On another tact, what do you suppose the world would do if mines were next floated in the straight?

[@justinmaxwell86]

I think container companies contracts usually are up for negotiations in May. Might be prudent for some of these companies to lock in these higher rates, and keep a portion of the ships for spot rates. Would behoove them financially, so they don’t repeat the mistakes of 2022 (keeping a majority of ships short term contracts rather than locking in high rates for long term contracts)… ZIM I’m looking at YOU

[@googacct]

What I do not understand is why rates are going up for cargo transiting between China and the US. The Houthi's can't reach that far. It sounds more like the shipping companies are just using this situation as an opportunity to grab more profit.

[@LibertysetsquareJack]

Because capitalization is done at the macro level, not per-ship. If the company is taking a hit, and needs to increase premium revenues by, say, 12%, to offset increase in liabilities, you can more feasibly leverage that by doing like 2% across the board, rather than 35% for only particular transits; plus, the idea that shutting down particular transits altogether would be much more costly as compared to lessening the proportion of ships on a particular transit.

[@SpringIsBACK]

Some cargo from China to the US East Coast transits the Red Sea / Suez Canal, esp. with the restrictions now occurring in the Panama Canal.

[@NewGoldStandard]

Sal! What's good? It's always nice to see new content from you. Thank you very much!

[@C1223opuv]

People saying that it doesn’t look much probably haven’t spent much time on a boat with nothing but water all the way down. The smallest penetration of a hull is all it takes.

[@poolchuck66]

I would love to have you out there reporting Sal. I don't think our current government understands the seriousness of this situation.

[@Tetelestaii8]

Nor does the Navy 😢 The belief that Maritime Power = Warheads on Foreheads is asinine. They need to review chapter 1 of Mahan. Germany did, China did, and they both became our greatest competitors. The Dutch had the largest European empire before the British and French, yet didn't have much of a Navy. They had trade and money to influence their foes, until they didn't... so you need both (1. trade and 2. a military to protect it). But if you only fund a military with no revenue stream coming in from trade while other countries leverage their sovereign wealth fund to grow their maritime industries to compete, we will continue to lose.

[@maxiimillion33]

Hi Salmer Kagano, actually there was a piracy a little before the Barbary piracy war, by the name Henry Every in 1695. Interesting watch. And if you ask me i honestly stand against all piracy no matter what because it only hurts the average mans pocket, really.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

Ironic considering we were dealing with A holes on the Barbary coast in the late 18 century.

[@Richard-od7yd]

Gatekeeping is an understatement. Nice job Navies of Free World . I did many a Joint Task Force Transits in the North Atlantic. The radio chatter must be crazy . Bet the Twidgits are glassy eyed and eared !!

[@AksilRebis]

Sal, i love the historical perspective. My best guess is de-globalization will continue, these poor nations will suffer 10 x worse, and the Suez will become irrelevant.

[@b.a.d.2086]

An excellent historical novel about the historical Barbary Coast written from the standpoint of an American prisoner is "Lydia Bailey" by Kenneth Roberts. It's old and might be hard to find but it's an excellent read.

[@sfjarhead4062]

Good connection to the USS Bainbridge.

[@johnjennings9043]

Sal, I think the main difference is that ultimately the Americans paid the pirates off. The Houthi wont be bribed. Second- we can’t really control the economic insentive the container carriers have aim going the long way round. So, mersk have the excess capacity and just needed an excuse

[@pedenharley6266]

I love the thumbnail!

[@Lakridza67]

Scary situation! Gate of tears sure seems fitting, all things considered! Businesses in Australia are beginning to show signs of delayed openings, delays in predicted goods arrivals, and so on. I hope for a solution, one way or another.

[@mik99D]

Thanks!

[@BoxVanMan]

I bet his classes are pretty cool.

[@janetAlexader]

Hello thank For Update Blessings 🇺🇲🇺🇲🙏💙🖐️

[@donharrus9994]

Is that where the to the shores of triply came from...halls of Montezuma

[@donalddodson7365]

Exactly right. The United States Marine Hymn simplifies the geopolitical realities. Perhaps after the US and UK deplete their missile budgets, quietly we will adopt Yemeni and Somali 16-24 year olds and create peace-oriented industries for them. Far less expensive in the long run. Just look at Vietnam, now.

[@pasofino9583]

They aren’t pirates, to consider them so is being really shortsighted. Pirates plunder for economic gain this is political.

[@AllNighterHeider]

Great report Would love to watch you specifically explain your favorite story, because the story teller matters. Thanks Sal

[@grdnzrnic]

The Suez Canal is on by the Egyptian government. However, the current president is considering selling off of portion of the canal to private investment. It would be funny if the Iranian government sovereign fund invested in nautical insurance company and other shipping companies in general, and was able to ride the wave of higher freight rates

[@0dbm]

By Frances example these pirate's only know defeat Algerian or Houthi’s Amazing story on the Barbary wars Thank you

[@talbotlindstrom6452]

Grappling hooks and cutlasses

[@Ericc804]

Excellent analysis especially with Egypt and its potential fallout. Clearly Hauthi, Hamas and Iran are playing the long game. I am worried what their end game will be.

[@ricu4841]

Irony or by design... Bainbridge versus pirates?

[@BeckVMH]

On a side note, “Go Camels” referring to the little known mascot of Campbell University.

[@davidg3944]

When the students go out on dates, is the question "One hump or two?"

[@johannespronk71]

Prosperity Guardian. The longest time stuck Ever Forward, not far from Washington DC, must have been a bad omen.

[@oikkuoek]

Ansar Allah, also known as "the Houthis" are NOT pirates. They have not looted a single ship. They started a support campaign targeting Israeli bound ships, that after the strikes conducted by U.S and UK, expanded to all western cargo ships in the Red Sea. The U.S navy on the other hand, HAS illegally performed an armed hostile takeover of Iranian oil tanker.

[@dananorth895]

Your chronology is off.

[@oikkuoek]

@@dananorth895 Yes, the U.S Navy "confiscated" (stole) the Iranian tanker a couple of years ago. That was just an example of actual piracy. Other than that, my timeline is correct.

[@sarahbrown5073]

​@@oikkuoekThe US and the UK have engaged in this act of piracy against Iranian oil several times since 2019. The only difference is that when we do it, we call it sanctions enforcement. ...because we're hypocrites.

[@RayzeR_RayE]

On today's episode of What's going on with shipping: i got too shredded in the DR to truly follow, I'm on vacation😂✌️

[@sailingirwin5489]

Sal, I truly enjoy your channel, keep posting!

[@wgowshipping]

Thank you!

[@pauldelray5839]

Sal. Can you do a video this week on the following topic .Following weekend Ukraine drone strike against the oil and gas terminals of Ust-Luga, all tanker loading operations have been suspended. Several fuel tankers are waiting near the Luga Bay. Ust-Luga is Russia's largest maritime terminal for crude oil exports. How will this affect tanker shipping industry? Thanks.

[@noodlethecat429]

very cool thumbnail

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

" Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates . . ." 'Mark Twain'

[@dananorth895]

Pirates Local: 322

[@jimcarlson2252]

What on Earth is the US Navy doing protecting the Asia to and from Europe trade shipping lanes through the Suez Canal? Egypt where the Suez Canal is, is a powder keg of distrust and warring political factions. When I visited Egypt with my wife in December 2009 for a destination wedding in Cairo we spent a week touring the pyramids of Cairo and City of Ancient Luxor. After spending only a week in Egypt I can say with confidence Americans have no idea how Egypt is held together by shipping monies derived from the Suez Canal. Prior to watching Sal’s channel “What’s Up With Shipping” I used to think “Egypt was the Nile and the Nile was Egypt”, no longer it’s “Egypt is the Suez Canal and who profits from the Suez Canal rules Egypt.” Near 100% of the population of Egypt live along the Nile where it rarely rains but the massive Nile of millennia provides water and crops sustaining its now 107 million Egyptian near unsustainable today teeming like never before population. Dam by Luxor has stopped flooding downstream but also stopped natural fertilizer nourishing the banks downstream. The only industrial plant south of Luxor I saw, I asked what it was and who owned it. It was a fertilizer plant and it was owned by the Egyptian army. Driving south of Luxor with our guides driving we had to go through multiple guard stations manned by the Egyptian army. Saw two Egyptian men slitting a bulls throat along a canal tributary of the Nile with a machete midday. Huts were everywhere with satellite dishes and men in long white robs all seemed to pull out cellphones. Garbage collection was burnt and dozed into canal tributaries of the Nile. All our guides were well educated Egyptologists Muslim men named Muhammad except one who was a young Christian women guide newly married. She got our guide duty on New Year’s Day 2010 as all other guides wanted the day off. She took us on a small Felucca sail boat captained by an Ethiopian darker than dark black man below the Aswan low dam, a gravity dam built by the British completed in 1902. The waters of the Nile were dark behind the dam as we sailed about on this Felucca. The construction of this modern Felucca sailing ship may have been a bit modern compared to old Feluccas but I was not lost to the concept that this type of sailboat was the same means of travel and commerce even back in the era of the pharaohs along the Nile. I treasured that brief experience. The captain sold me a small hippo he carved in wood. I still have it on my work desk. I was told by the young Christian women guide that maybe 20% of the population were Christians in Egypt. Coming across a ferry with this guide I noticed Muslim men who were friendly with me and spoke English gave her a bit of a skunk eye, to which after I asked on the boat, she said that was due to her not wearing a scarf covering her hair. I let it be as it seemed a nonissue to her. Back in Cairo visited some amazing Muslim Church, simply amazing architecture. More than one Muslim guide commented they have no issue with Jews and two commented there is still a couple of Jewish families residing in Egypt, proof positive all is good between Jews and Egyptians. A couple of Jewish family’s in my book isn’t proof positive all was good but I’m just a tourist. One troubling fact I read in an Egyptian English paper were near 80% or more poor Egyptian girls 9 to 12 were subjected to female circumcision. This Egyptian paper seemed to frown on this common practice. I did notice Egyptian women were scarce other than tourists except at high end Egyptian hotels and when seen were escorted by Egyptian men. In 2012 I followed the first democratic Egyptian election with interest after our 2009 visit. It was hotly contested with the Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate winning with 52% of the vote and the more secular candidate losing with 48% of the vote. Shortly after his win the Egyptian army deposed the Muslim candidate and to this day run Egypt. After the 1973 Israel and Egypt war, Israel took the Suez, but since the Carter 1979 peace treaty the Suez returned to Egyptian control. After that peace treaty Carter agreed to keep the peace by giving annually American taxpayer monies in billions to Israel and hundred of millions to Egypt. At least that is what I read, is that aid still going on? Written hastily by me but the bottom line in my view is, spending millions in American missiles and US Navy operations to defend against slow moving Houthi drones costing only thousands seems to me a waste of money and American military resources especially as most worldwide shipping through the Suez Canal affects Europe not America.

[@brianpond191]

Need to pull out of protection racked or get compensated. If we pull out we will find out who are true allies are quickly

[@laurenglass4514]

I love watching Professor Sal daily, I learn a little more everyday that I did not know. Learning a little more everyday that is positive and relevant is time well spent.

[@deanthroop8054]

The one thing to note, Egypt hates Hamas because of their close ties to the Islamic Brotherhood. So we are somewhat looking at a loose alliance of kindred spirits that are all on the down side of the power structures, which ultimately only helps Iran erode the status quo.

[@davidg3944]

There's likely Russian influence here too - sow confusion among your enemies while the opportunity exists.

[@CraigTheBrute-yf7no]

Egypt loves the brotherhood. Its only the American puppets in charge who don’t like them.

[@sarahbrown5073]

...but when you have people in the Israeli government openly calling for the destruction of the third holiest site in Islam...funny how that brings all Muslims together behind a common purpose.