Saudi Arabia is asking the White House to show restraint in Yemen and avoid further escalating fighting with the Houthis. Riyadh is one of Washington’s closest partners in the Middle East and has been at war with the Houthis for nine years but is nearing an agreement to end the war with Saana.
On Thursday, the US and UK targeted 16 sites in Yemen with at least 60 rockets and missiles. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder claimed the strikes had a “good effect.” Yemeni officials say the bombs did minor damage and killed five figures. Houthi leaders pledged to respond to the US and UK attacks.
A White House statement after the attack warned that Biden “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce, as necessary.” However, Saudi Arabia expressed “great concern” about the Western airstrikes and called for “self-restraint and to avoid escalation.”
Riyadh is one of Washington’s core partners in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia went to war with Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis seized power. The US backed the Saudi war in Yemen, providing Riyadh with weapons, intelligence, and logistical support in the war.
The Saudi war in Yemen targeted large portions of Yemen’s civilian infrastructure, creating a grave humanitarian crisis. At least 377,000 Yemenis died in the Saudi-led war. Contributing to the starvation that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of children was a blockade of Yemen, enforced by the US and Saudi Arabia.
A ceasefire brought cross-border attacks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen to an end in 2022. The UN reports that the Houthis are now nearing a peace agreement with Riyadh that would bring the war to a conclusion. If the US continues to strike Yemen by hitting targets in the Middle East and East Africa, including those in Saudi Arabia, this may well bring the fragile truce in Yemen to an end.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
@antiwar.com Please include the precise time the article was posted to this website. That’s a big help for those of us seeking to establish or maintain a timeline of events. Thanks, and thank you for everything you’re doing.
—-This latest US escalation is just infantile madness. The Houthis have withstood extraordinary violence for a long time. This US escalation can only, only make things worse—perhaps to the point of regional war. Perhaps to the point of global war.
The only sane, the only moral response was to compel Israel to halt its slaughter in Gaza, which would have ended the Houthis’ shelling of shipping to and from Israel, shelling that only began in response to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.
I’ll pass that suggestion on.
Houthis crossed a line when they fired at US and UK warships. It is a simple rule, don’t attack the US Navy. That was Houthis second mistake. The first was deciding that attacking shipping in international water was a good idea. It was not. There is no way the USA or any other nation is going to change their foreign policy in response to an attack by a want to be terrorist group.
The real question is will Houthis learn from their mistakes. The US/UK response was very mild, the next counter strike might not be so gentle.
Pride goeth before the fall … man, a lot of Americans are going to need to adjust their minds to the brave new world …
“a want to be terrorist group”
Yes, trying to stop a genocide is the definition of terrorism in that twisted mind of yours. While indiscriminately (Biden’s words) bombing and starving a largely civilian population packed into an area like sardines in a can is acceptable. Try listening to yourself.
How is attacking international shipping and the US/UK navy going to stop the war in Gaza? It is not. Your twisted mind deals in fantasy not facts. That fact is the US is not going to change it polices based on the action of these clowns.
If you want the war to stop in Gaza, have Hamas surrender. They started the war and they knew that Israel response will be deadly. But they didn’t care, because they knew people like you would fall into their PR trap. Hamas does not care how many people die as long as they keep scoring PR points.
The Houthis are making the world even more aware of the US’ enabling of Israel’s ongoing attempt at genocide in Gaza. I never said that the attacks would stop the war or change US policies. And whether Hamas surrenders or not doesn’t justify Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and shouldn’t be a condition for Israel to stop their ongoing genocide in Gaza. You just can’t get that through your thick head because you refuse to acknowledge the 23,000 dead (plus the thousands uncounted underneath rubble) over 50,000 wounded/injured with thousands of amputees, 500,000, and counting, on the verge of starvation and 90% of the population displaced. The US has a population of 150 times that of Gaza. Try multiplying those numbers I gave you in Gaza by 150 to get a better understand of the magnitude of the Israels genocidal slaughter in Gaza.
He can’t because he’s a neocon shit stain who is unable to examine things logically. Neocons can only examine things through the lens of ideology. In their case a fascist ideology which is belied by the brutality and inhumanity of their preferred policy recommendations.
Dick Cheney would love this even now.He would have definitely asked you to visit him in 2003. The basic principles in the discourse offered by the original neocon clan seem to have an enduring effect in explaining the US sponsored foreign event and in protecting the do-gooder image of the necrophilic hegemony of the US-UK.
Terrorism key is to be plugged to these events and thus have the western part of the world come around to US’s stance and to have the domestic listeners make a beeline behind nasty De Santis/Nikki -Israeli or Graham or Biden or Chuck Schumer .
I love how Israel apologists always project their failings onto everyone else. It is obviously Israel who doesn’t care how many people die. Hamas could have killed a lot more people on Oct. 7 if they had wanted to. It’s now become clear that a good portion of the civilian deaths were from the IDF killing their own people to prevent them from being taken hostage.
It wasn’t OUR international shipping so instead of trying to be the West’s Hit Man, butt out for once.
IKR?
How is genocide going to stop the war DUH?
Eric Garris asked me to thank you for the suggestion — it’s either done, or getting done, right now.
Thank you. This is really valuable. Wasn’t this implemented in the past and it went away at some point?
I don’t recall. But I do know that it’s a fairly easy set of options to turn on and off in WordPress. So it wouldn’t surprise me if it used to be a thing and then stopped being a thing during one of the occasional site/theme remodels.
I personally like it on news sites, so that I can instantly tell whether I’m reading the latest reporting .
60 rockets and missiles to kill 5 guys
They were not out to kill people, they were out to destroy assets. That is one of the reason for the late night strike. Would prefer to attack during daylight to increase the chances of casualties?
First, I’ve never ever heard USUKISRAEL being shy about killing designated enemies. But, even if so:
60 multi-million $ rockets to destroy a few 1,000$ drones.
Sounds better? It’s math only the MIC could love …
Would you prefer to lose a $2 billion destroyer to an attack by these nut jobs?
Interesting math, who do you suppose can keep this up longer?
That is there to protect Israel and allow them to continue their brutal genocidal attack on Gaza? Hell yes.
I mean I would prefer the U.S. military stop acting like an arm of the IDF and protect American interests and not the interests of the genocidal maniacs running Israel.
Funny comment. That $2B ship is only at danger from the Houthis because we fired on them first! It would be at no risk at all patrolling the coasts of the US itself.
Don’t put a $2 billion destroyer in harm’s way.
At least 377,000 Yemenis died in the Saudi-led war. Contributing to the starvation that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of children was a blockade of Yemen, enforced by the US and Saudi Arabia.
Yes, the US never tries to kill anyone. They know they’re going to, but they never try.
And funny how some blockades are ok while others, not so much.
From Caitlin Johnson’s article:
James Ray 🔻
@GoodVibePolitik
The U.S. can have a multi-decade long blockade on Cuba and it’s normalized.
Israel can have a decade and a half long total air, land, and sea blockade on Gaza and it’s normalized.
But Yemenis block some ships to stop a genocide and all the sudden it’s indefensible.
The bombing smashed huge city-supply water reservoirs that had been in use since Roman times, 2,000 years. These are important in Yemen, because of its seasonal rain pattern with long months of drought and then flooding.
Show me that link.
I agree that we need evidence for specific claims, but the U.S. military does have a history of targeting civilian infrastructure.
look for it yourself. No one is your gopher.
Early reports from the US were of over 150 weapons launched, and more in a second strike.
I think failure of the attack, and Saudi lack of enthusiasm for the attack, has led to downgrading statements about its size.
Per today’s NYT, “two U.S. officials cautioned on Saturday that even after hitting more than 60 missile and drone targets with more than 150 precision-guided munitions” in that first strike.
Well hopefully the point wasn’t to kill people, the point was to reduce the capability to launch strikes at shipping. If the point was to kill people it would be cluster munitions at a soccer game or over the market
Spy… Is that you inside my skull banging around? …No? …That’s not you? Then how did you know that was exactly what I was thinking? …Only solution is I’m gonna have to wear that condom over my head again. Only problem, it’s hard to breathe. wut
It’s like upside down world when Saudis call for restraint.
The US looks like absolute shit.
You cannot eat and have your lunch at the same time…! US wrongfully thinks it could do that…!
After nine years of constant bombing by US aircraft, bombs, and missiles, there is not much left to bomb. Things are prepared for bombing. That is why expending over 150 missiles, by early reports, killed perhaps five people and did little damage.
We can expect even less from a few more bombs.
But we must expect trouble from those we attack. They were able to do real damage to the Saudi oil industry, enough to bring the Saudis to an agreement. They froze traffic through the Suez Canal, over 2,000 fewer ships transiting in recent weeks compared to original traffic projections.
So this is a loser’s game for the US. Even the Saudis know that.
Well yeah, the Yemenis might go after Saudi again.