- Mar 11, 2015
- 102,378
- 114,777
- 3,645
When you are an unqualified president with an unqualified cabinet, you fail. Hegseth is a prime example. At this time, Trump's military action against the Houthis is failing. Tough guy Trump, the man who can kick all ass, The man whose supprters see as:
The man whose sheer presence is supposed to strike fear into nations is having a hard time fighting the Houthi rebels.
The President of Peace was what his supporters imagined out loud during Bidens presidency. He was going to end all wars.
In the five weeks since the Trump administration stepped up attacks on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, a few big problems have become apparent, underscoring just how hard it is for U.S. President Donald Trump to turn muscular rhetoric into real-world results.
The operation, famously debated in a Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist, has failed so far to achieve either of its two stated goals: restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and reestablishing deterrence.
Shipping through the Red Sea and the adjacent Suez Canal remains as depressed as ever despite a more than $1 billion U.S. onslaught against the Houthis. And the militants remain as defiant as ever, warning over the weekend that Trump has waded into a “quagmire” and intensifying their own attacks on Israel and U.S. warships in the region.
There has also been a glaring lack of transparency about the operation, the biggest exercise of U.S. military power in Trump’s second term. The Defense Department does not hold briefings on the ongoing war, and U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, merely posts snazzy videos of flight-deck operations on social media, accompanied by the hashtag “#HouthisAreTerrorists.”
More alarmingly, the tempo of U.S. operations, including around-the-clock strikes by two entire U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups, is burning through finite precision munitions that many defense experts say would be best husbanded for any future conflict with China. That’s especially important when it comes to the limited stock of stand-off, air-launched missiles that would be critical to any fight over Taiwan.
“If this is about freedom of navigation, it isn’t working,” said Alessio Patalano, a naval expert at King’s College London.
foreignpolicy.com
The man whose sheer presence is supposed to strike fear into nations is having a hard time fighting the Houthi rebels.
The President of Peace was what his supporters imagined out loud during Bidens presidency. He was going to end all wars.
Trump’s War on the Houthis Is Going Nowhere
In the five weeks since the Trump administration stepped up attacks on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, a few big problems have become apparent, underscoring just how hard it is for U.S. President Donald Trump to turn muscular rhetoric into real-world results.
The operation, famously debated in a Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist, has failed so far to achieve either of its two stated goals: restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and reestablishing deterrence.
Shipping through the Red Sea and the adjacent Suez Canal remains as depressed as ever despite a more than $1 billion U.S. onslaught against the Houthis. And the militants remain as defiant as ever, warning over the weekend that Trump has waded into a “quagmire” and intensifying their own attacks on Israel and U.S. warships in the region.
There has also been a glaring lack of transparency about the operation, the biggest exercise of U.S. military power in Trump’s second term. The Defense Department does not hold briefings on the ongoing war, and U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, merely posts snazzy videos of flight-deck operations on social media, accompanied by the hashtag “#HouthisAreTerrorists.”
More alarmingly, the tempo of U.S. operations, including around-the-clock strikes by two entire U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups, is burning through finite precision munitions that many defense experts say would be best husbanded for any future conflict with China. That’s especially important when it comes to the limited stock of stand-off, air-launched missiles that would be critical to any fight over Taiwan.
“If this is about freedom of navigation, it isn’t working,” said Alessio Patalano, a naval expert at King’s College London.
Trump’s War on the Houthis Is Going Nowhere
The U.S. Navy can play whack-a-mole with the Houthis, but that changes nothing in the Red Sea.
foreignpolicy.com
