and restore stability in the red sea but let our message be clear, we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce? one of the most critical waterways in the face of continued threats. australia also provided support for the strikes. here is the australian defense minister. these are very important actions. the actions that have been taken today supported by australia are about maintaining freedom of navigation on the high seas and maintaining global trade. that is completely central to australia s national interests. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken pushed back at suggestions that the war in gaza is spreading in the region. he spoke before the u.s. announced the strikes in yemen. he said the conflict is not escalating even though he recognized what he called danger points. egypt was the last stop in blinken s diplomatic tour.
the conflict is escalating, there are just a lot of danger points. you said a short time ago to cbs, this is not part of the israel-hamas conflict, yet the houthis have been clear from the very beginning that this is. so how is this not an escalation at this point? well, it s a great point, right, and to secretary blinken s point and what we continue to see is that the conflict between israel and hamas does remain contained to gaza and really that s a major focus for us is to deter that conflict from broadening into a wider, regional conflict. and so what you have in the red sea is the houthis indiscriminately attacking mariners, transiting this vital waterway. over 50 countries have been affected by this. this is an international problem that required an international response. and so there had been multiple warnings to include early in january 14 countries plus the united states issuing a warning to the houthis that this action, this illegal, reckless dangerous
troops in the region right now. i think i know how this is going to go but i need to ask the question, are there plans to move more into the region as you look at these danger points as they were referred to by secretary blinken? we have nothing to announce right now in terms of additional u.s. forces going into the region. as you know, we did deploy some additional capabilities back in october to support our regional deterrence efforts, but one of the things about the u.s. military is that we are highly flexible organization, and we have the ability to surge forces anywhere in the world should we need them. right now, there s nothing new to announce in regard to additional forces. quickly, too, in terms of allies in the region, saudi arabia releasing a statement in response to the attacks, urging for restraint in the region, they re not part of this coalition. we know about the discussions that have been going on between saudi arabia and the houthis obviously. how much did they kn
a lot of people have been producing this and studying for years. some of the top people have backed away and said we need a regulation. there s too much harmful danger. we should get ready for it. i do not know what the government s role is. i became nonpolitical long ago and i would never vote. i want to avoid these things it turned one side takes for example if republicans propose something the democrats will have to oppose that. it is a big division and i am not into that. we should really be objective. where are the danger points look at what the social brought us as far as the negatives being tracked everywhere and all of that. what if we just sat down and thought about before the social web came and had some regulation? what if we thought of the internet before came and put in protocol so be impossible for people to scam us?
meeting at the white house today. i don t know whether that is the government s way of saying this is going to be big, we have to do something about it. does the government have to do something about it? well, we re actually very late. there s a lot of people that have been producing this and studying it for years. some of the top people now have backed away and said we need regulation and there s too much harmful danger. we should get ready for it. i do not know what the government s role in there is. i became nonpolitical long ago and i would never vote. i want to avoid these things that turn into side. one side takes for example, republicans propose something, the democrats have to oppose it. neil: it s nuts. i m not into that. we should be objective. where are the danger points. we see them. we re not taking any action yet really. look at what the social web brought us as far as the negatives. being tracked everywhere and all that. what if we just sat town and