So the Houthis launched a ballistic missile that hit nearby to Israel's main airport, the missile's likely intended target. Thankfully, there were no deaths but 8 injuries were reported from the attack.
So Israel, in response, just destroyed the Houthis' main sea port and airport, preventing two easy access points from being used to funnel in more missiles to the Houthis from Iran.
We will see if the Houthis learn anything from this, or if they need to find out further.
On Septemebr 27, US Naval forces in the area came under attack from a "complex" attack from the Houthis.
Stars and Stripes: Navy ships shoot down ‘complex’ barrage of Houthi missiles and drones in Red Sea, Pentagon says
Navy ships intercepted a Houthi barrage of missiles and drones launched from Yemen at the shipping lanes of the Red Sea, the Pentagon confirmed Friday, while also denying reports that any ships were hit in the attack.
“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department.
The Iran-backed Houthi claimed Friday to have damaged three U.S. Navy warships in a bombardment of 23 missiles and bomber drones. The Navy destroyers, the Houthis’ military spokesperson said in a televised speech, were targeted as they transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen.
Sure would be nice if instead of passively and simply absorbing attacks (with rather spendy anti-missile missiles, not to mention the risk of an enemy weapon getting through and killing or injuring Americans), the rules of engagement were changed to allow the US Navy to proactively engage the launchersand those firing them before the weapons were fired at the ships.
I daresay some renewed deterrence and an application of Finding Out to the Houthis of the consequences of flinging missiles and drones at the US Navy would be most appropriate at this time and is long overdue.
The US Navy stopped yet another drone and missile barrage by the Houthis at ships in the Red Sea.
USNI News: US Destroyers, Ike Aircraft Shoot Down Houthi-Launched Missiles, Drones Over Red Sea
USS Laboon (DDg-58), USS Gravely (DDG-107), USS Mason (DDg-87) and F/A-18s from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), along with the United Kingdom’s HMS Diamond (D34), shot down a number of Houthi-launched drones and missiles over the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command announced via social media site X Tuesday night.
The ships and aircraft shot down 18 one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles, two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile Tuesday at around 9:15 p.m. local time, CENTCOM said in the release.
As reported in the article, this is the 26th time the Houthis have launched weapons at shipping in the Red Sea. That's twenty-six separate attacks without any retaliatory strikes on the launchers and launchees. Not much deterrence is going on right now.
Freedom of navigation in the sea lanes is rather important for the world economy, and such freedom has been aptly and ably enforced by the US Navy in the past.
At a certain point, eventually even the passive Biden Administration will get tired of the Houthi's antics, stop being weak and indecisive, and finally let the gloves come off.
Assuming the Navy is given free reign to both restore deterrence and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Houthis will definitively find out what happens when you interfere with US shipping and fire weapons at US warships.
Update: The Biden Administration apparently is continuing to refuse to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, The Biden Administration had removed them, both as an appeasement move to Iran (the backer and shot-caller for the Houthis), and to stick a thumb in the eye of Saudi Arabia. The Biden policy of appeasement and weakness is sure paying dividends - for America's enemies.
It's a really good thing Biden is cutting military aid and assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, isn't it?
Fox 13: Saudi TV: Yemen rebel attack on airport sets plane on fire
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia with bomb-laden drones, causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire, the kingdom's state television reported. The attack threatened to escalate Yemen's grinding war.
Biden is also freezing arms sales and putting aluminum tariffs back in place on the UAE after they were removed as a carrot in the peacemaking UAE-Israel deal done under Trump.
Under Biden it appears the pro-Iranian/Arab rejectionist faction in the State Department are now back in charge and working to undo the progress Trump made with peace in the Middle East and end Trump's pressure on Iran. Biden instead has reversed course and is full steam ahead on appeasement and higher oil prices to benefit the Iranian regime.
This should lead to lots of stability and peace in the region, right? Right?
Unless, of course, weakening America's standing in the world and handing the Middle East over to Islamic Fundamentalists and Iran was the successful aim.
The Detroit Free Press: Reports: U.S. forces evacuating Yemen air base after losing track of $500 million in weapons recently given to Yemen.
Remember this? Obama Tonight: Yemen and Somalia Are Models of Success.
Expect Somalia to fall even farther apart in short order.
From the Junior Varsity taking over swaths of Iraq to now losing Yemen to Al Qaeda and Iran, Obama's sure been busy losing. Not sure if we should attribute this string of failures to malice, or stupidity, or both.
