The Houthis Are Emboldened by Biden’s Weakness By Noah Rothman
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-houthis-are-emboldened-by-bidens-weakness/
It’s starting to feel like an exercise in futility to continue to hector and cajole the commander in chief of the armed forces into doing his job. Joe Biden seems perfectly happy to absorb the consequences associated with the Iran-backed campaign of terrorism engulfing the Middle East. When the Pentagon does respond to attacks on U.S. service personnel and American interests — that is, when the Defense Department isn’t in “full cover-their-a** mode” — it does so in a calibrated way that conveys America’s desire to avoid escalation more than its interest in restoring deterrence. That message has been received loud and clear, and the Iran-sponsored Houthi rebels are making the most of their free hand.
“This is the largest attack on commercial shipping,” one unnamed national-security official told CNBC reporters yesterday. The observation followed reports that the terroristic outfit launched a large missile and drone attack on merchant vessels in defiance of the multinational naval operation, Prosperity Guardian, which is tasked with providing security for commercial traffic in the region. U.S. and British naval forces reportedly shot down “18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile,” but the Houthis did not limit its targeting to commercial vessels.
British secretary of state for defense Grant “Shapps said that Royal Navy ship HMS Diamond, which repelled the attacks along with U.S. warships, may have been specifically targeted,” Reuters reported, “adding there was also ‘a generalized attack on all shipping.’” Shapps made note of the untenable nature of the status quo emerging amid months of unmolested Houthi attacks on military and commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden. “This cannot continue and cannot be allowed to continue,” he said simply.
But the White House is unmoved. Neither the president nor his subordinates appear concerned that their facile warnings about the “consequences” the Houthis will bear for these provocations are being ignored. They don’t seem to care that this Iran-backed terror campaign has already had deleterious effects on the global maritime trade regime and the international supply chain. They are willing to look beyond direct attacks on U.S. warships and those of their allies — targeting of which the Houthis boast, despite the Pentagon’s claims that the group doesn’t really mean it — even if that increases the threat born by U.S. service personnel in hot spots all over the globe.
As Dominic Pino noted yesterday, the Biden White House should think more carefully about issuing warnings to the Houthis and their Iranian sponsors if those admonitions are destined to be written off with no repercussions. The “consequences” the Biden administration is inviting will be visited on Americans in uniform.
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