A year ago, the terrorist organization and quasi-state of the Houthis in Yemen launched drone attacks at great distance against Israel, and then proceeded to attack ships passing through the narrow channels separating the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden. Effectively, these attacks have shut down the bulk of the global maritime trade that passes through this route to devastating impact.
The United States has repeatedly warned both the Houthis and Iran that it will respond to the assault on shipping. But the character of the US response has embodied the larger concept of what the Biden administration terms as legitimate “self-defense.” That concept is limited to blocking an acute attack, but at the same time avoiding use of force to preempt, prevent or address the underlying capability of the aggrieved nation to take the war to their attacker’s territory and terminate their ability to further conduct such attacks.
