Yemen Monitor/Marib/Exclusive:
A US Senator has stated that Biden administration lacks the political will to pursue the Houthi group and stop their attacks on the Red Sea.
According to a Washington Post report translated by Yemen Monitor, Senator Mike Rounds, a member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, said, “Simply, we don’t have the political will to go after them.”
The stalled American efforts to stop Houthi operations and protect global shipping have raised concerns in Congress, with lawmakers saying that what is being done is not enough to deter them.
Senator Rounds attributed the rising tempo of Houthi attacks to “the resources being provided to them by Iran” and “their advanced technology, which has made their systems more precise.”
Rounds, who refused to comment on specific weapons, said: “Every type of system has its own capabilities.” He added: “I don’t want to get into details, but their weapons are more advanced than they were when they started attacking.”
The Pentagon has recorded over 190 attacks on US military or commercial ships off the coast of Yemen since November, including nearly 100 since the start of the US airstrikes in January.
Criticism of Biden administration’s handling of Houthi attacks in Yemen has intensified. A former American admiral wrote on Friday that President Biden’s fear of attacking the Houthis would lead to the death of American sailors, accusing the White House of restricting the US Navy.
In June, former Central Command chief Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said that the United States had been too passive when it came to the Houthis, allowing them to control the Red Sea and that they should instead pursue their leaders rather than just targeting them.
Since November, the Houthis have targeted over 125 commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and have recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They claim that they are targeting Israeli-linked ships that are conducting a brutal attack on Gaza. However, the Yemeni government and experts say that Houthi goals are local, aimed at escaping internal crises and improving their image in the region.
In response, the United States and Britain have launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthis since January 11. As a result, Houthis have announced an expansion of their operations to include American and British ships.
