In response to a Houthi missile attack on Israel, the Israel Defense Forces launched air strikes against numerous Houthi positions in Yemen. The strikes, which involved dozens of aircraft, sought to destroy Houthi port facilities and storage depots.
There’s a lesson for the United States in this. If Washington wants to build momentum toward ending Houthi missile attacks on and hijackings of international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, it should impose far greater military punishment on the perpetrators. The U.S.’s current responses have been weak, ineffectual, and shaming.
Houthi attacks began shortly after the Hamas invasion of Israel last October. They have cost the global economy tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars in additional insurance, travel delays, and physical damage to ships. They have also left the U.S. looking impotent in the face of what is essentially a gang of pirates. This is a very poor image to project to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Obsessively fearful of escalation with Iran, a key Houthi partner and weapons supplier, the Biden-Harris administration has authorized only occasional and limited action against Houthi positions in Yemen. Instead, it has directed the U.S. military to maintain a costly defensive action to protect ships passing through the dangerous waters. This effort has reduced the threat to international shipping, but it has been far from successful. The Houthi threat is not eliminated, and its leaders appear emboldened. Why wouldn’t they be? More than two dozen cargo vessels have been hit by Houthi missiles or drones since last October. Some ships have been sunk.
To be sure, the U.S. Navy and its international partners have shot down a large number of Houthi missiles and drones. But this success is a double-edged sword. The anti-air missiles that the U.S. Navy is using are very expensive and finite in number. This is a concern amid rising tensions with China because of its menaces to Taiwan and the Philippines. China’s People’s Liberation Army has stockpiled a vast reserve of highly capable anti-ship missiles that could overwhelm the U.S. Navy in war. However, the more air defense missiles the U.S. Navy uses against Houthi attacks, the fewer it will have to use against more potent Chinese attacks. This makes a dismal tit-for-tat strategy against the Houthis incompatible with U.S. national security. Bolder, asymmetrical action, such as Israel’s, is required.
President Joe Biden’s top commander in the Middle East has said as much. U.S. Central Command’s Gen. Michael Kurilla warned earlier this summer that the current strategy against the Houthis was “failing.” He called for more robust authority to degrade the Houthis’ threat to international trade and the lives of U.S. military personnel.
What might this look like in practice?
First, air power should be used against Houthi infrastructure. Aggressive port and storage depot strikes would complicate the Houthis’ ability to project power and sustain their economy. There would be a continuing need to mitigate harm suffered by Yemen’s impoverished population. But massive hits to Houthi power centers would deter them from further attacks. It’s not as if the U.S. would struggle to take the fight to the Houthis. We already have many strike aircraft in the region.
Strikes against Houthi leaders and their allies should also be considered. Iran has provided valuable maritime intelligence to facilitate Houthi strikes. But the muted Iranian response to Israel’s astonishing campaign against the Lebanese Hezbollah underlines how concerned the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is about risking Israeli action against his own direct interests or his person.
The U.S. should make clear that Iran must either cease its support for the Houthis or see its forces involved in that support destroyed.
The objective of such escalated actions would be to deter Houthi strikes or degrade the group’s ability to carry out attacks. The shift is needed.
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The current strategy is failing, and the Houthis know it. Kurilla knows it. The international shipping industry knows it. Israel has reminded the U.S. how to deal with emboldened terrorists.
It isn’t by sending large numbers of ships to float in the Red Sea waiting to swat the occasional Houthi fly with multimillion-dollar missiles. It’s to take whatever action necessary to impose new costs on the aggressor.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
