CNN
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The Biden administration has struggled to stop continued attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis against ships in the Red Sea, even as the United States has carried out large-scale attacks against them in recent weeks. Regardless, the group continues to build up its weapons stockpile in Yemen. a US official told CNN.
“We know that the Houthis have a large arsenal,” Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina said Thursday, hours after the Houthis attacked yet another cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden with ballistic missiles.・Shin stated. “They are very capable and have sophisticated weapons, and that's because they continue to get weapons from Iran.”
U.S. officials are struggling with how to increase pressure on the Houthis, with some in the administration arguing that force alone will not be effective. And some officials say it would be too expensive and impractical to keep firing multimillion-dollar missiles at the Houthis' cheap drones and missiles.
Some former officials outside the regime argue that the regime has taken an overall too conservative approach and that it should focus on targeting Houthi leaders rather than arms. ing.
The U.S. strategy for confronting the Houthis has changed since the offensive began in October, with U.S. Central Command periodically deploying Houthi weapons inside Yemen at a time when the U.S. can confirm the systems are ready to fire. They are starting to make a pre-emptive attack.
But officials told CNN that the U.S. does not yet have a “denominator” to assess the proportion of Houthi equipment it has actually destroyed, and it is unclear whether the U.S. will further shift its military approach. Told.
“They continue to surprise us,” a senior defense official said of the Houthis. “We don’t really know what they have yet.”
The United States has struck dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen since January, including command and control nodes and weapons storage facilities, but officials say the Houthis have now built tunnels near Yemen's west coast and underground It is said that the number of people hiding in the area is increasing.
Some within the regime say it's a good sign that the Houthis appear to be spending more time underground between attacks, forcing them into hiding, which means military attacks are at least This suggests that it is having a psychological impact.
The Houthis are also extremely concerned that their senior leadership will be targeted in strikes and are becoming increasingly paranoid, two officials said.
Some former U.S. officials who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity said the fact that the U.S. has not yet attacked the Houthi leadership and is instead focused on destroying their weapons and equipment is a sign that the U.S. He said this was a large part of the reason for the failure to meaningfully deter the sect. .
“The U.S. operation against the Houthis appears to continue many of the characteristics of the very limited and thoroughly eliminated operations of the past, seeking to avoid inflicting real suffering on them.” One former U.S. military official said:
Former officials say the administration has clearly succeeded in deterring Iranian-backed militia leaders in Iraq and Syria. After insurgents killed three Americans in Jordan in January, the United States launched an attack on the city of Baghdad on February 7, killing two key militia commanders. The attacks have since ceased completely, the Pentagon said. Officials also believe that Iran has directed groups to halt their attacks in response to the U.S. attack.
The problem has become even more acute, especially given the notable increase in Houthi attacks over the past two days. The Houthis' deployment of unmanned underwater drones for the first time last week also alarmed U.S. officials.
That drone was eventually destroyed by the US military. But unmanned surface vessels and unmanned submersibles are an “unknown threat” that can be “extremely deadly,” Rear Admiral Mark Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, told CNN last week. He said the United States “has very little fidelity to the entire stockpile that the Houthis have” of these types of weapons.
It also allows the Biden administration to meaningfully step up military operations targeting Houthi targets, particularly Houthi leaders inside Yemen, without first addressing some unresolved questions surrounding the legality of the campaign. It is also unclear whether Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are questioning whether the Biden administration needs Congressional approval to continue campaigning beyond the 60-day limit imposed by the 1973 War Powers Resolution. In theory, the 60-day deadline could expire on March 12, two months after the regime's first major attack inside Yemen.
The United States now needs to move to a stronger international pressure campaign and more clearly highlight how the attacks are disrupting the flow of humanitarian aid to vulnerable people, including Yemenis. Some people argue.
Officials say the Houthis are extremely concerned about their public image in the country and are trying to portray themselves as vile underdogs fighting for a better life for Palestinians and an end to Israel's war in Gaza. Although the Houthis are not very popular in the areas of Yemen they control, the Palestinian cause itself is popular among Yemenis, officials noted.
At the same time, the Houthis also crave international legitimacy and want to be recognized as the official Yemeni government, officials said. They have been fighting for years for it as part of a civil war against the Saudi coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government.
As a result, some senior officials in the administration believe that if Israel ends the war in Gaza, the Houthis will keep their word and stop their attacks, although some former officials say this is wishful thinking. I'm speaking personally.
The government has repeatedly downplayed Houthi claims in public that they attack ships as a way to pressure Israel into a ceasefire, and most of the targets have no connection to Israel or its allies. He points out.
But some senior officials admit privately that there is a good chance the Houthis will stop if Israel stops, and that the Houthis' They point to the fact that the attacks have almost subsided.
Still, officials say they cannot wait to see if a ceasefire can be achieved in response to the Houthi invasion. So the State Department and the Pentagon are working to further antagonize both ordinary Yemenis and the international community, and this week they began to challenge the extremists' narrative more forcefully.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller and the Pentagon's Mr. Singh both highlighted Houthi attacks on ships carrying corn and other food supplies to Yemenis in Aden, and Mr. Singh said another ship was hit by a missile. He pointed out that it was attacked and is currently submerged in the Red Sea. It carries fertilizer and now poses a significant environmental risk to the region.
“The Houthis are creating an environmental hazard in their own backyard,” Singh said Thursday. “They say they are carrying out attacks on ships that have ties to Israel. It’s causing it.”
One key aspect of this international pressure campaign is support from America's Arab allies. The United States has successfully enlisted several key regional partners, including Oman and Bahrain, in the Red Sea commercial shipping defense operation known as Operation Prosperity Guardian.
But officials say more needs to be done to convey to the Houthis that they are becoming pariahs on the world stage. Even Iran, which has supported the Houthis for years, does not have full command and control over them, raising concerns about the rebels' tactics, CNN previously reported.
Still, there is no indication yet that Iran is actively withholding aid from the Houthis, the officials said. The United States continues to block Iranian arms shipments to Houthi-held areas in Yemen, most recently earlier this month.
