With US strikes in Yemen, Biden gives Houthis the war they want
US strikes against Houthis will help the group portray itself as the defender of the Palestinians and rally support inside Yemen.
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Having long sought to avoid it, the White House may have just opened a new front in its confrontation with Iran’s proxies amid Israel’s war in Gaza.
US and UK aircraft, along with American warships, launched at least two waves of strikes targeting a total of 28 Houthi military sites across Yemen after midnight on Friday, expending more than 150 precision-guided munitions to knock out drone and missile launch systems and storage facilities, as well as command and control nodes.
US F/A-18s and Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, along with Tomahawk missiles fired by US Navy surface ships and the USS Florida guided-missile submarine, also struck Houthi coastal radar facilities, ostensibly blunting their ability to pinpoint foreign ships beyond the horizon on the Red Sea.
