The notion of US indispensability and ideology were the key motives behind US President Joe Biden's decision to launch an anti-Houthi military campaign, the Washington Post reported, citing sources in the White House.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea were of no concern to Washington from an economic standpoint, as US business relies mostly on Pacific sea routes rather than the Middle Eastern ones, the paper wrote. European economies have suffered the most, and some global companies have already begun to reroute, the media outlet noted.
The officials who spoke to WaPo believe that Biden launched the anti-Houthi campaign because of his belief that the US must be an "indispensable nation" and a supreme military power, leading other states and uniting them behind a single cause. They compared the anti-Houthi campaign with Biden's stance on the Ukraine crisis – POTUS spent billions of dollars in order to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
The campaign against the Houthis is likely to only strengthen their resolve to continue, said political expert Mohammed al-Basha, as quoted by the paper. The US airstrikes, combined with its maritime activities, create a strong media buzz that helps the Houthis promote their agenda.
“But the attention they’re getting today from the Red Sea attacks is unheard of, so they are loving this,” he stressed.
In the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, Yemen's Houthi military organization (also known as Ansar Allah) vowed to attack any ship with any connection to Israel until Tel Aviv ends the conflict with the Palestinians.
In January, the US and UK began airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen to degrade their fighting capabilities. Russia condemned both the Houthi actions in the Red Sea and the Western aggression against Yemen, calling them a direct threat to global peace and security.