The Houthis launched an attack on 18 suicide drones and three anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea region of southern Yemen, targeting merchant ships in Yemeni port cities near Hodeidah and Moka. The attack was not directed at the United Fleet formed by the United States, but against merchant ships on the Red Sea. The USS Eisenhower, USS Graveley, USS Raboon, USS Mason, and USS Diamond successfully shot down 18 OWA drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile in joint operations with U.S. Navy F A-18 carrier-based aircraft after spotting an attack by the Houthis.
It is worth mentioning that the attack took place at the same time that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Israel, apparently to put pressure on the United States, as Israel's military operation against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has already made the situation in the Middle East tense. Previously, the Houthis had said they would carry out attacks on Israeli-linked merchant ships in order to force Israel to halt its military operations against Hamas. This is the 26th attack by the Houthis on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19, according to the U.S. Command. The Houthis have dared to launch a military operation in front of the US aircraft carrier fleet, partly because they have the support of Iran, and because Hamas in the Gaza Strip has close ties with Iran.
In the case of Hamas's troubles, if it does not bring more pressure and trouble to Israel and the West, it is tantamount to the defeat of Iranian power. As a result, the Houthis are now uncertain whether the United States will bomb Yemen proper, or whether it will carry out attacks on the Red Sea region and Israeli-linked merchant ships. This can be described as a contest, and despite the strength of the United States, the Houthis are not easily intimidated. At present, it seems that the conditions for whether the United States will bomb Yemen mainland are not sufficient. Despite the large U.S. military presence in the region, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have not yet participated in the so-called U.S. escort operations. Many of the countries that are responding to the U.S. call are out-of-regional, including Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Secondly, if the United States conducts direct military action against the Houthis, the United States will not be able to gain anything from it. If the Houthis were to launch a military operation against them because of the blockade of the Red Sea, the Houthis would only increase restrictions on navigation in the Red Sea. The Houthis are growing stronger, and their elimination has become an elusive goal. Yemen's civil war has been going on for many years, with strong support from Iran, and the Houthis have many military industrial bases and superior equipment, far superior to Hamas. This has made it imperative for the war to spread, and neither the United States nor Saudi Arabia has been able to block the Houthis. The Middle East is likely to descend into chaos, which will not benefit the United States at all. Biden has consistently stressed the need to avoid escalating Israel's war with Hamas into a broader regional conflict, while Iran has a thorough understanding of the U.S. strategic layout in the Middle East.
However, there is a clear military justification for the U.S. attack on targets in Yemen. Still, there is a clear political risk of US military action against the Houthis. At the moment, the United States and the European Union are effectively on the side of Israel, and Israel's massive bombing campaign has led to numerous Palestinians**, and the Houthis control of the Red Sea with the aim of forcing Israel to stop artillery fire, which has kept the Western world on high alert. As a result, the Houthis have found a reason that will be difficult for the United States to overthrow to support their military operations. According to the logic of the Houthis, to stop them from attacking merchant ships, it is simply a ceasefire for Israel. Therefore, the Houthis are no longer afraid of the United States either. However, this does not mean that the United States will certainly not take military action.
Although a military strike against the Houthis would not benefit the United States, the United States would not hesitate to act if the Houthis' actions seriously damaged the strategic interests of the United States. After all, Saudi Arabia does not support the Houthis and has bombed them for a long time. Today, however, Saudi Arabia cannot share the same hatred as Israel attacks on Gaza. But if the Houthis' actions lead to Egypt and Saudi Arabia siding with the United States, the situation is unpredictable. Will the United States launch a large-scale military operation in the Middle East in the future? This is increasingly likely because of Iran's rise and increasingly cold relations with Saudi Arabia. This has led to a weakening of US influence in Middle Eastern affairs in recent years, while in Europe, the process of de-dollarization has accelerated in response to Russia.
Although Trump later reinvigorated the United States' position in the Western world, he suffered from a global decline. Against this backdrop, the only way the United States can rapidly increase its international influence is through war. The United States will not sit idly by and watch the world de-dollarize, let alone allow Middle Eastern countries to drift away from it. Biden could start a war of considerable scale in the Middle East. So, has Biden's diplomatic strategy been a success? First of all, Biden's primary goal after taking office is to contain Russia's rising power on a global scale. Russia's influence in the Syrian civil war is rising rapidly, and for Middle Eastern countries that have long been troubled by the United States, they naturally want to pursue their own interests by neutralizing the conflict between Russian and American forces.
Therefore, the United States has encouraged Ukraine to go to war with Russia and joined forces with NATO to provide Ukraine with a large amount of aid, which has delayed Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine for two years. On the European front, the United States has succeeded in severing relations between Russia and the European Union, causing a serious setback for Russia's future development. Second, the United States has unexpectedly underestimated Russia's power at a time when it expects to continue its influence in the region. The backlash of Western initiatives against Russia has had a huge impact, especially in terms of energy**, agricultural production and food demand. In addition, the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict disrupted American plans. Not only is it difficult for the United States to continue to aid Ukraine, but even to support Israel is under unprecedented pressure.
The deterioration of relations between the West and the Arab world, as well as the limited gains made on the European side, led to a decline in the international influence of the United States. In the end, Biden took his selfishness to the extreme. In contrast, Trump simply wants allies to pay more, while Biden has been described as wanting allies to pay. As the EU's economy is thrown into chaos due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, geopolitical threats have intensified, the economic development framework has been dismantled, the European industrial cycle strategy has been bogged down due to its inability to implement Russia's plans, and even the EU is currently secretly funding the United States. It can be said that Biden tried to unite the West through typical events in order to continue to gain benefits on a global scale, but he did not expect that with the rise of the power of the emerging West, the West's advantage was no longer overwhelming.