President Joe Biden is reportedly planning an increased military response to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists despite criticism of his initial airstrikes against the group in Yemen that were conducted without congressional approval.
Biden says that his airstrikes on the Houthis are not working but he will continue to drop bombs on Yemen anyway pic.twitter.com/R7NVkpJI4x
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 18, 2024
Over the past few months, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on commercial vessels — including hijacking a cargo ship affiliated with Israel. The terrorist group has vowed to continue these attacks in and around the Arabian Peninsula in response to Israel’s ongoing campaign to eradicate the Hamas terrorists responsible for massacring 1,200 Israelis on October 7. Responding to the Houthis’ actions, several major corporations have been forced to pause their shipments in the Red Sea to avoid facing attacks — causing a major supply chain issue in the area.
After the first rounds of strikes failed to deter the Houthis from their continued terrorist attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and targeting of U.S. Navy vessels that responded to the attacks, the Biden administration is planning a stronger military response.
Biden initially delisted the Houthis as a terrorist organization almost immediately upon taking office in 2021 but has recently announced his intention to reclassify the group as terrorists following these attacks. His decision was also reportedly made in response to backlash, as many critics argued that declassifying the group as terrorists may have exacerbated the current problem.
So it turns out the Biden admin reversing a Trump policy and removing the Houthis from the terror list was a bad idea. They’re now backtracking.
A story in 3 parts! pic.twitter.com/jD9dOCrJrE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 17, 2024
Biden has also faced backlash for the initial airstrikes in Yemen on Houthi targets without congressional approval, but that has not dissuaded the administration from planning to ramp up their military response to the terrorist group.
Only Congress has the power to declare war. I have to give credit to @RepRoKhanna here for sticking to his principles, as very few are willing to make this statement while their party is in the White House. https://t.co/kD95sII05J
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 12, 2024
According to the Washington Post, the Biden administration’s strategy is to “erode the Houthis’ high-level military capability enough to curtail their ability to target shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or, at a minimum, to provide a sufficient deterrent so that risk-averse shipping companies will resume sending vessels through the region’s waterways.”
The outlet spoke with several U.S. officials about the Biden administration’s plans, noting that they do not anticipate the military response to the Houthis to be a lengthy engagement, but are unsure how long it will take to erode the terrorist group’s abilities to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles.
“We’re not trying to defeat the Houthis. There’s no appetite for invading Yemen,” one U.S. diplomat told the Washington Post in a statement. “The appetite is to degrade their ability to launch these kinds of attacks going forward, and that involves hitting the infrastructure that enables these kinds of attacks, and targeting their higher-level capabilities.”
Officials went on to claim that the initial airstrike, which was conducted in partnership with British military forces, had “significantly” degraded the Houthis’ military assets — but also acknowledged that the terrorist group still had some weapons that needed to be found and destroyed.
The U.S. and UK military have launched multiple airstrikes in Yemen tonight against the Houthi terror group- who have been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea.
Video shows the aftermath of an air strike in the Port of Hodeidah.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) January 12, 2024
“It’s impossible to forecast exactly what’s going to happen, and certainly not [to predict] future operations,” a senior U.S. official told the outlet. “But the principle that it simply can’t be tolerated for a terrorist organization … with these advanced capabilities to essentially shut down or control shipping through a key international choke point is one that we feel very strongly about.”
