Dem
51
GOP
49
Until yesterday, the U.S. had managed to avoid perpetrating any acts of violence as it tried to stabilize the increasingly unstable situation in the Middle East. Not anymore, though, as the American and British navies, with support from Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Bahrain, launched a sizable missile strike on Houthi positions in Yemen.
The Houthis, for those unfamiliar, are the most prominent radical Islamist group in Yemen (so, sort of the Yemeni answer to Hezbollah or Hamas). They are a Shiite movement, which means they really dislike the Sunni government of Yemen. Where do the Houthis get their weapons? Well, everyone except Iran says: "Iran." Readers can decide for themselves which side of that question they come down on.
As a radical Islamist group, the Houthis also really dislike Israel. And so, the Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, claiming they are carrying supplies to Israel. Thus far, at least 26 different ships have been attacked, some of them with Americans, Britons, Australians, Canadians, etc. on board. This is what led to yesterday's retaliatory strike, against 16 Houthi positions in Yemen.
Some House Democrats (mostly progressives) and one Senate Republican (Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT) are angry about the attacks, because they were launched without Congressional approval. Perhaps they should review the War Powers Resolution of 1973, because Biden clearly had the legal authority to do what he did.
That said, it is understandable if Americans—whether members of Congress or not—are skittish about this attack. After all, the slippery slope to a Vietnam War starts with the occasional sortie here and the occasional bombing there. However, the White House clearly had to do something, a conclusion supported by the fact that key international partners lined up to assist (in contrast to, say, Vietnam). And the administration says—and we have no reason to doubt this—that it tried diplomacy first, and only turned to an armed response when that failed.
On the whole, as a fellow who came of age during the Vietnam War, Biden seems to be far less comfortable with military strikes, and far more leery of quagmires, than most presidents (something that is also true of Donald Trump, making this one of the rare things he and Biden have in common). So, our guess is that this is a one-off, or something close to it. That said, we pass it along just in case it's the prelude to something much bigger. (Z)