[Mr.Coffee]

In this instance the States will absolutely engage because… money.

The USA navy has generally been keeping international waterways safe for the last 75 years since post WW2. They’re not going to let the idiotic rag tag Houthis expose them as weak and they absolutely will respond. It doesn’t mean they need to engage in a ground invasion. Quite the contrary it actually means re-engaging with the Yemen government to supply key intelligence, possibly weapons and other military support which they were previously providing under Obama and Trump but that Biden when he came in office withdrew from. So from a Houthi strategic perspective it puts the current Yemen conflict at risk and they won’t do any real material harm, damage, or pose any real threat once the States get real. It’s a really bad idea.

For the Houthis it’s a super bad idea, I’m not sure why Iran is pushing them to do this. Seems like a bad idea for Iran too, to be honest, given the diplomatic advances they’d made with the Saudis, China, etc. over the last year or so.

I think that the Houthis, after missile attacking the Yemen oil export facility in order to gain concessions from the May 22 truce extension, have overplayed their hand. After that missile attack in Nov 22, they had strategically more sway and pull in Yemen. Their negotiations were working with that pressure. But now? Why drag in the bear?? They are an absolutely despicable regime, and the stories and knowledge I have gained about them and how they treat local communities, women, kids, etc. would make the Saudis blush. Just awful people. If you’re a fan of things like human rights, even though the Saudis and Yemen gov have 100% their own fair share of grotesque approaches to things, their overall approach to human rights is 10 fold better than the Houthis. Not even debatable. This is a horrendous group, the Houthis.