The Wire - February 19, 2024

this is the wire for 1800 Zulu February 19th 2024 preceden is routine information cut off is 1700 bottom line up front houie forces SN ship in the bab MB straight beginning with international events in the Middle East Western mainstream media reporting over the past 24 hours has suggested that Egypt may be preparing for the reception of Palestinian refugees Planet lab satellite imagery was provided to Media groups that indicates a large swath of land is being cleared in Egypt just across the border from Rafa Egyptian authorities have denied these claims as the policy of strategic ambiguity precludes Egypt from making a deao admission that the expulsion of Palestinians into Egypt might be possible analysts comment though it is challenging to verify anything that is provided to Media groups the quiet preparation of emergency refugee camps in Egypt is very likely following the Israeli announcement of imminent operations in Rafa though the politics of the events in Gaza Cloud the situation on the ground it is clear that Egypt has is always considered the expulsion of Palestinians into Egypt as a possibility and if these preparations are confirmed these actions to prepare for such strongly indicates that Egypt May believe this worst case scenario is very likely in the Red Sea Horn of Africa region houthi attacks on commercial shipping became more serious overnight following the sinking of a commercial vessel overnight houthi forces struck the merchant vessel rubar a Biz flagged bulk Cargo Carrier with multiple cruise missiles the crew Abandoned Ship shortly after the strike this morning the rubar was reported as being sunk in the Babel MB Strait analyst comment this marks the first publicly disclosed successful sinking of a commercial ship by hthy forces so far in this conflict this morning hthi attacks continued as another vessel was targeted in a similar Manner and as yet unidentified vessel reported multiple explosions in close proximity to the vessel in the Gulf of Aiden on the home front in Texas the Border situation continues as before despite little independent media coverage of the truth On The Ground events in the vicinity of Eagle Pass have largely developed into to politics with Shelby Park mostly serving as a location for photo opportunities or press events due to the halting of illegal immigration in this very small area relations among Defense Forces in the region remain tepid as politics becomes more intertwined with the Border Protection mission on Friday Texas announced a $131 million plan to build a Ford operating base or fob near the southern US border fob Eagle base camp will be completed in September and will reportedly be a larger version of similar camps already in place throughout the region analyst comment though on paper this makes sense creating a fob virtually identical to those found overseas is mildly concerning for some using the term fob to describe this Base is almost certainly a political move to increasingly drive a wedge between the state and federal governments or at the very least undermine and ship away at the perceived control of the federal state by using language and terminology that reinforces the military tone of illegal immigration being treated as an invasion analyst comments for this wire hthy forces likely emboldened by their public sinking of a commercial ship will likely continue targeting vessels in a similar manner it has become clear via the daily successful targeting of commercial shipping that operation Prosperity Guardian is hopelessly ineffective in providing missile defense for commercial ships US Navy forces constantly report the successful strike of allegedly staged missiles and drones yet the only limiting factor for the houthis seems to be simply the lack of Western vessels willing to take the risk of transiting the Red Sea this concludes the wire for 1800 Zulu February 19th 2024