During the Obama administration, there were criticisms that it was leading from behind. The Biden administration has blown past that and devolved into “leading from behind the enemy”.
What’s the plan for stopping the Houthis from blockading the Red Sea?
Team Biden has escalated to “taking the problem seriously” with some air strikes carried out for show. And beyond that?
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said, “It’s really up to the Houthis for when they decide to stop their attacks.”
There’s no plan to win here and that means turning over the initiative to Iran and its proxies. Singh is just artlessly saying it out loud.
The Biden administration thinks of military action as a kind of gesture. Something you put in the effort to signal. Another diplomatic form of pressure. And then you wait until the other side does what they’re supposed to do.
They’re doing their part with occasional strikes. Now it’s up to the Houthis to see things their way.
Q: Hey, Sabrina. Is it now fair to say that the U.S. is at war in Yemen? And secondly, there are some reports about a U.S. MQ-9 being shot down over Iraq by Iranian-backed militia. Is that something you’re tracking?
MS. SINGH: Thanks, Idrees. And to your — I’ll take the second — the last one first. I have seen those reports. I don’t have anything for you on that, so I’d have to circle back with you. I just, I’ve seen those reports, but don’t have anything to add.
In terms of your first question, no, we don’t seek war. We don’t think that we are at war. We don’t want to see a regional war. The Houthis are the ones that continue to launch cruise missiles, antiship missiles at innocent mariners, at commercial vessels that are just transiting an area that sees, you know, 10 to 15 percent of world’s commerce.
The U.S. is — what we are doing with our partners is self-defense. We certainly don’t want to see this widen out to a regional war and we don’t want to see this continue, which is why you have seen the action that we’ve taken. And as the secretary has stated before, we will continue to take that action if we to.
Wars end when you acknowledge and set out to win them. This is what happens when you don’t.