US Navy Responds to Houthi Red Sea Attacks - Experts Say Only One Thing Will Bring Them to an End

WASHINGTON – The Truman Carrier Strike Group is reportedly headed to the Red Sea, where sailors continue to fight off attacks from Houthi rebels.
 
Despite those efforts, the Iran-backed terrorist group continues to wreak havoc on the vital trade route.
 
"We have certainly degraded their capability. There's no doubt about that. We've degraded their ability. However, have we stopped them? No," said the head of naval efforts in the Middle East, Vice Adm. George Wikoff, during a speech to CSIS last month.
 
Wikoff went on to say it's unlikely the Houthis will be swayed by the kind of military response approved by the White House.
 
"Our mission remains to disrupt their ability and try to preserve some semblance of maritime order while we give an opportunity for policy to be developed against the Houthis," he said. 
 
While that discussion goes on, the Iranian proxy group has attacked more than 70 vessels since the war began between Israel and Hamas, claiming to support Palestinians in Gaza. 

PHOTO: Oil tanker Sounion burning in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (European Union's Operation Aspides via AP)
 
"What the Houthis, really, at the behest of the Iranians learned long ago is that the shipping that goes through the Red Sea, it has a global impact," Brent Sadler of the Heritage Foundation told CBN News.
 
Sadler, a former Pentagon official, predicts this will only continue without a change in U.S. strategy and rules of engagement. 
 
"Until you sever their connections to Tehran and at the same time apply more punishing attacks against them, this is going to persist for quite a while, as in fact, it has," Sadler said.
 
Wikoff says many ships now bypass the Red Sea, taking a route that adds about 11,000 miles to each trip.
 
"It's not an acceptable solution, but we have seen some degree of stabilization, where now, where we used to see about 2,000 ships go through...a month, now we see roughly 1,000," he said.
 
Meanwhile, Navy forces find themselves under constant enemy fire for the first time since World War II. 
 
"The bottom line is that our sailors have been asked to do an extremely difficult job and they're doing it better than we could possibly have imagined before," said Wikoff. 
 
Costly U.S. weapons systems are also being targeted. Earlier this month, the Houthis claimed they downed a $30 million drone.
 
"An MQ-9 did crash in the vicinity of Yemen, that is being investigated," confirmed Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
 
Sadler warns that what we're seeing in the Red Sea could also be a sign of what's to come in the Indo-Pacific if the U.S. doesn't change its approach with Beijing. The Taiwanese are already conducting military drills in preparation for keeping critical sea lanes open in the event of a Chinese blockade.