On Point: Hegseth Vows Unrelenting Attacks on Houthis -- and Implicitly, Iran
Ezoic
by Austin Bay
March 20, 2025
On the morning of March 16, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Fox News the latest U.S. airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi terrorists is a campaign "about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence. The minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your (U.S. recon) drones,' this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting."
Unrelenting. That word is the Trump administration's Houthi policy differentiator. Biden administration responses to the Houthis and, for that matter, other terrorists and other international threats, were episodic. As a result, Biden's half-actions were more theatrical than decisive.
So I insert this bitter comment: More media theatrical than decisive definitely applies to Biden administration support for Ukraine. Ukraine should have had F-16s by autumn 2022. I can make a case theater without decisive substance applies to almost every Biden administration foreign policy exploit, especially Afghanistan. What an inexcusable disaster.
Back to SecDef Hegseth's interview. He added this warning: "Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long. They better back off."
https://www.strategypage.com/on_point/202503209496.aspx#gsc.tab=0
