CENTCOM Commander: Current U.S. Strategy of Limited Strikes on Houthis is Failing

US Navy Houthis Yemen Red Sea

We have been reporting on attempts by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to disrupt shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea:

We have also reported on some of the U.S. naval operations designed to thwart the Houthi attacks through the use of limited strikes against Houthi terrorist targets:

These particular strikes were “successful” according to the then-Biden Administration:

Well, maybe not. At least not according to the Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

From the Wall Street Journal: U.S. Launches Effort to Stop Russia From Arming Houthis With Antiship Missiles: A U.S. commander sent confidential letter warning that U.S. is failing to deter Red Sea attacks on shipping:

U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Russia might arm Houthi militants in Yemen with advanced antiship missiles in retaliation for the Biden administration’s support for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons.The new intelligence comes as the top U.S. Middle East commander recently advised in a classified letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that military operations in the region are “failing” to deter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and that a broader approach is needed, according to U.S. officials.

That classified letter was sent by Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, and provided some blunt advice, turning heads in the Biden Administration:

Kurilla called in his letter to Austin for a stepped-up “whole of government” effort against the Houthis, employing economic, diplomatic and potentially stronger military pressure to discourage attacks on ships in the Red Sea and a narrow strait known as Bab el-Mandeb, off Yemen’s coast, officials said. At least 30 ships have been damaged, and two have sunk.

Many people found the tone of the memo to be a bit shocking,” a defense official said. It said essentially that “U.S. service members will die if we continue going this way.”[emphasis added]

And, while the “White House has authorized the military to conduct strikes against Houthi missiles and drones about to be launched and taken other limited steps,” “some Central Command officials say their forces have been unable to prevent the Houthis from regularly threatening commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb because they haven’t had the approval to carry out a broader range of strikes.”

Interestingly, this Wall Street Journal story was published shortly before Israel showed the way with a massive strike on Houthi infrastructure in Yemen following a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv:

Following Friday’s drone strike on Tel Aviv by Houthi terrorist group, the Israeli airforce reportedly carried out an airstrike on terror targets in Yemen.The strike reportedly took place in the Houthi stronghold in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah in western Yemen….

Sounds like this, in addition to diplomatic and economic action, is what CENTCOM is talking about. If the Israelis can make this happen completely on their own, imagine what CENTCOM could do if unleashed by the White House.

Of course, who might authorize such action remains a mystery, but good for General Kurilla to have the intestinal fortitude to tell the White House like it is.

Tags: Military, Navy, Yemen - Houthi

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