Washington – US President Joe Biden’s announcement of launching air strikes on a number of sites used by the Houthis in Yemen did not come as a surprise to many experts and commentators who Tel Aviv Tribune Net spoke to.
These experts said that Washington launched these attacks in particular after the publication of a study yesterday, Thursday, by the Congressional Research Service, which is the research body that provides members of the House of Representatives and the Senate with documented research, which stated that “in response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the US Navy placed multiple warships to intercept Those attacks” and formed the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition, a multinational coalition to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea region.
On January 3, the White House, along with several Washington partners, issued an official warning to the Houthi group, stating that the Houthis “will bear responsibility for the consequences if they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and the free flow of trade in the region’s vital waterways.” .
The study indicated that “the attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen on commercial ships crossing the Bab al-Mandab Strait have prompted many major shipping companies to suspend or redirect shipments at great cost.” To confront the threats posed by the Houthis, the United States is said to be considering different military options.
Big risks
Some members of Congress, led by Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee Michael McCaul, called on the US administration to reclassify the Houthi group as a “terrorist group,” as US President Joe Biden had previously removed the group from the “list” days after the start of his rule in January 2021. State Department for Terrorist Groups,” which was placed there by the administration of former President Donald Trump, and the Biden administration is currently examining the possibility of putting the Houthis back on the list.
In an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, the director of the Gulf States Studies Foundation, Giorgio Cafiero, considered that Washington’s directing of military strikes against Houthi targets on the ground in Yemen “is part of the administration’s efforts to deter the group from launching further operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, while showing that Washington is committed.” “By providing Israel with strong support amid its war on the Gaza Strip, which has many ripple effects throughout the greater Middle East.”
Cafiero pointed to the many risks “that the Biden administration will have to bear,” and said, “There is absolutely no guarantee that this will deter the Houthis, and may even lead to more subversive behavior on their part.”
“It is important to see whether the Houthis will target Gulf Cooperation Council countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their retaliation,” he added.
Cafiero explained, “The risk of this happening is a major reason why the capitals of the Arab Gulf warned the Biden team against launching military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. It will also be important to see how such American strikes could affect Saudi-Iranian and Emirati-Iranian relations, amid “This is a period of détente between these countries.”
Ned Lazarus, a lecturer specializing in international affairs at George Washington University, also indicated, in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, that one of the risks that the Biden administration fears after launching attacks on the Houthis “is that Washington will actually be drawn into a broader regional war, which is something the administration seeks to avoid.” “By keeping its military responses proportionate, after a series of attacks on US forces and interests by the Houthis and Iranian-sponsored militias in Iraq.”
Washington’s dilemma and Satan’s alternative
Charles Dunn, a former official at the White House and the US State Department and currently an expert at the Arab Institute in Washington and a lecturer at George Washington University, spoke about the dilemma of not attacking the Houthis and attacking them.
Dan told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “It’s a devil’s choice. Houthi attacks on navigation in the Red Sea may escalate if the United States does not attack them, but it is likely that the matter will escalate and attacks on shipping lines will also increase after they are attacked, and there is a risk of escalation to a broader war.” “It is not necessarily limited to the Red Sea.”
For his part, academic Lazarus added, “Since coming to power, the administration of President Joe Biden has constantly sought to calm the multilateral and long-term war in Yemen, between the Houthis, the internationally recognized Yemeni government, the Saudi-led coalition, and other parties, so there is another danger that it will lead to “These attacks could lead to new hostilities that would undo the progress that has been made on this front.”
On the other hand, Lazarus accused Iran of providing essential technical support to the Houthis in their recent attacks on international ships, and said, “This certainly represents an escalation in tensions between Iran and the United States, which could lead to mutual retaliation in other parts of the region as well.”
Washington is not leaving the Middle East
The ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the renewed disturbances of US forces in Syria and Iraq, in addition to the Houthi attacks on shipping lines in the Red Sea, show that Washington’s desire to reduce its military presence in the Middle East is pure fantasy.
Ironically, President Biden and his predecessors Donald Trump and Barack Obama all sought to reduce the US military presence in the Middle East, yet recurring conflicts continue to draw the United States back in.
Tarita Parsi, Vice President of the Quincy Institute in Washington, tweeted on the “X” platform, commenting on these developments, saying, “The most effective way to avoid this escalation is not to bomb the Houthis, but rather to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, but Biden will not think about that, so instead of… “He is preparing for a regional war.”
Representative Rashida Tlaib, of Palestinian origin and a member of the House of Representatives from Michigan, also accused President Biden of bypassing Congress by launching attacks on the Houthis.
She said in a tweet on the X website that the US President “violated Article 1 of the Constitution by carrying out air strikes in Yemen without the approval of Congress. The American people are tired of the endless war.”
