The US-UK airstrike itself was more symbolic than meant to actually degrade or destroy Houthi capabilities. It strikes many observers as just another dangerous step down the path towards regional escalation which the Biden administration ostensibly wants to prevent - just, that is, as long as it doesn’t require actually stopping the Israeli war on Gaza which is its cause. But it’s also easy to see that such a military strike is unlikely to achieve its goals.
It’s easy to see why the US felt it needed to act: the Houthi attacks have had a palpable effect on global shipping which the US has made clear it could not ignore. Few Yemen experts (or anyone else who knows the region) expects that the air strikes will have any serious impact on Houthi capabilities or its grip on power. The attack came following another Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping in the face of an American ultimatum, as it struggles to reassure shipping companies and break the de facto blockade imposed by Houthi attacks on shipping with the avowed goal of demanding an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza. Last night, the US and UK launched a large-scale targeted bombing campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen.
