Tag: yemen

The Houthis Are Challenging Washington’s Zones of Imperial Domination

Washington DC is an imperial city. It masks as Athenian democracy housed within Roman republicanism and underpinned by Judeo-Christian values. But behind the mask is a cold monster: the “interagency.” And the monster is committed to global domination.

The imperial agenda has met with great resistance, most stunningly in Ukraine, where Russia has been degrading Washington’s proxy forces with extreme lethality. But the most poetic resistance has come from a group of Zaidi Shi’ites in Yemen, the Houthis. Formally known as “Ansarullah (a.k.a. Ansar Allah),” the Houthis control Yemen’s central state.

DC hates them so much it continues to have its captive media refer to them as “rebels” and “militants” more than a decade after they seized the capital city Sana in downright Shakespearean style. The Houthis are the unintended consequence of previous imperial intervention in Yemen. They have been terrorizing Red Sea shipping and attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians since October 2023. And they have been withstanding (and responding to) direct U.S. counterstrikes. All this could escalate to front page New York Times blowback. There is the very real possibility that the Houthis could do massive damage to (maybe even sink) a U.S. Navy warship.

How did we get here?

DC maintains different zones of domination (domi-nation). There are the fifty states, the zone of “domestic imperialism.” As Libertarian Institute Managing Editor Keith Knight said, “The domestic population is the group that the government is at war with but has surrendered.”

There are the Federal Indian Reservations throughout the mainland and Alaska. These are “permanent tribal homelands…where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe.” So, basically museums of Manifest Destiny or imperial trophies.

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Israel, US, UK Launch New Airstrikes On Yemen Amid Efforts To ‘Hunt’ Houthi Leaders

On Friday Israel has launched new major strikes on Yemen, amid ongoing vows to ‘hunt’ down Houthi leaders and kill them.

A new Israeli military (IDF) statement said fighter jets struck “on the western coast and inland Yemen” in response to the day prior Houthis having launched three drones at Israel. It also follows a Pentagon-ordered air raid on Yemen earlier this week. The fresh strikes further targeted the port city of Hodeida, Ras Isa Port, Sanaa, as well as North Western Amran province – and reportedly had participation from the US and UK.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the latest air assault means Houthis will continue to pay a price for attacking Israel. 

He said that twenty Israeli Air Force jets participated in the new strikes against the Houthis, which followed on the heels of another new US-led coalition assault.

Times of Israel has noted that “The Houthis confirmed the strikes and said they occurred while people were rallying in Sanaa in support of Palestinians in Gaza.”

Last month Netanyahu called out Iran for its support to the Houthis, warning that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price.” 

Washington has for years documented Tehran’s support to the group, which has included advanced missiles and drone technology. This has allowed the threat out of Yemen to grow significantly.

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Pentagon Launches Fresh Assault On Houthis In Yemen Ahead Of 2025

The war in Yemen and the Red Sea continues to intensify, following several ballistic missiles launched on Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis last week and this month. The pattern is that for whatever the Western coalition throws at the Houthis in terms of bombing raids, the militant group only intensifies its assaults.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that forces under US Central Command (CENTCOM) have launched fresh attacks on Yemen after the Houthi militants targeted American warships and commercial ships earlier the same day.

US Navy ships and aircraft conduced the new attacks, striking Houthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, according to the CENTCOM statement.

American warplanes had destroyed “seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea,” the statement continued. “There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment in either incident,” it said.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam denounced the strikes as “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”

CENTCOM has justified the new action as necessary “to degrade Iran-backed Houthi efforts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region.”

Earlier on Tuesday the Houthis had also launched two more missiles at Israel. These direct attacks on Israel out of Yemen are coming almost daily at this point, and Israeli forces have also stepped up aerial attacks on Yemen in coordination with the Western coalition in the Red Sea.

Just days ago, on Thursday, Israel conducted some of the largest attacks on Yemen to date, hitting the international airport in Sanaa and other facilities. 

But the Houthis have clearly remained undeterred. Short of a full-scale ground invasion, these Western coalition aerial attacks are unlikely to do anything but prolong the war, which the Houthis say is a response to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip.

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US, British jets rain fire on Yemeni capital in new late night attack

US and UK warplanes launched a new round of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital late on 27 December, targeting the 21 September park in the Maeen district of Sanaa, according to Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV.

No photos or videos of the attack have been released or circulated on social media. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The latest western aggression came one day after Israeli warplanes launched massive airstrikes on Sanaa and the coastal province of Hodeidah in retaliation for continued drone and hypersonic missile attacks by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis marched through the streets of Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Hajjah, and Al-Mahwit, proclaiming, “We firmly stand with Gaza, the glory… without limits and without red lines.”

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Understanding The Military Tech Behind This Weekend’s Blue-On-Blue Incident

The United States has arguably the best and most experienced combat air forces on the planet. The US has four of them, in fact: The US Air Force, as well as air forces serving the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps. The US Navy also maintains both a surface and sub-surface navy second to none. However, these facts do not mean that there are no inherent dangers to be found in combat operations, including the risk of poorly named “friendly-fire” incidents.

One of those incidents happened this past weekend when a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, the USS Gettysburg (CG-64), accidentally shot down an F/A-18 F Super Hornet over the southern Red Sea. This aircraft was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 11, the “Red Rippers,” operating from the USS Harry S. Truman, CVN-75, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. When not onboard the Truman, the Red Rippers squadron is home port based at Naval Air Station Oceana, near Norfolk, Virginia.

America has extensive experience with guided missiles used offensively and defensively onboard ships dating back to the late 1950s, but even our latest generation of radar targeting systems and incredibly sophisticated missiles run the risk of what the military prefers to call “blue on blue” incidents, as there is nothing “friendly” about “friendly fire.”

Fortunately, the F/A-18’s ejection system was able to whisk the two crewmen safely away from the exploding missiles. Both crew members were recovered successfully. One crew member experienced minor injuries.

The aircraft involved in this blue-on-blue incident was based aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, CVN-75, the eighth of the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The plane had just launched on what was presumed to be yet another strike against the Houthi Rebel forces in Yemen when it was accidentally shot down. The Truman and its battle group are currently operating in the Red Sea, and have conducted several strikes against Houthi-related targets in Yemen since their recent arrival in the Southern Red Sea area.

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Houthi Hypersonic Missile Renders Iron Dome Useless, Slams Into Tel Aviv Area

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched its second hypersonic missile attack on Israel in just days, striking the Tel Aviv area early Saturday morning. The attack marked a rare instance where a hypersonic weapon overwhelmed Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, underscoring the challenges posed by these new ultra-fast missiles. 

“Between the Yemeni Armed Forces regarding the implementation of a military operation targeting a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied Jaffa area with a hypersonic ballistic missile Palestine 2,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced on X. 

Footage post on X shows the failed interception of the hypersonic missile by the Iron Dome system. 

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Pentagon ‘Shocked’ By Houthi Arsenal, Sophistication Is ‘Getting Scary’

A top Pentagon official responsible for purchasing arms for America’s defense stockpile has expressed ‘shock’ at the increasingly sophisticated arsenal possessed by Yemen’s Houthis.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante spoke at an event hosted by Axios on Wednesday, where he said that Houthis are displaying and deploying advanced weaponry, especially missiles that “can do things that are just amazing.”

He described that Houthis “are getting scary” in terms of their capability on display for more than a year in the Red Sea, where they’ve gone to war against Israeli and international shipping.

“I’m an engineer and a physicist, and I’ve been around missiles my whole career,” LaPlante said before the summit, called the “Future of Defense” in Washington, DC.

“What I’ve seen of what the Houthis have done in the last six months is something that — I’m just shocked.”

Among the surprisingly advanced capabilities include anti-ship ballistic missiles. Analysts have widely asserted that without doubt Iran is directly supplying these and other capabilities.

The Houthis have also routinely scored direct hits on commercial shipping vessels with both aerial and drone boats.

The Shia group has also claimed many times to have scored hits on US, UK, and other allied warships; however, the US has kept a tight lid on the extent of this, or actual damage, perhaps wishing to not give the Houthis a propaganda win.

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US air strikes target Houthis in several cities in Yemen

The United States military has struck a number of cities in Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, and the key port city of Hodeidah.

Forces from the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the military command responsible for US forces in the Middle East, “conducted strikes on 15 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen today”, it said on X on Friday.

Four strikes targeted Sanaa and seven hit Hodeidah, according to the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV network. Correspondents with the AFP news agency also reported hearing loud explosions in both cities.

The Hodeidah strikes hit the airport and the Katheib area, which has a Houthi-controlled military base, Al Masirah said. Footage on social media verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency showed large plumes of smoke resulting from the strikes in Hodeidah.

At least one strike hit Dhamar province, and air raids took place in Bayda province, southeast of Sanaa, the Houthi media office also said.

“These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM said in its post on X, adding that the strikes took place at around 1400GMT.

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It’s Time to End Biden’s Yemen War

Hal Brands is annoyed that the U.S. isn’t making its illegal, pointless war in Yemen even more destructive:

The core issue is that Washington has hesitated to take stronger measures — such as sinking the Iranian intelligence ship that supports the Houthis, or targeting the infrastructure that sustains their rule within Yemen — for fear of inflaming a tense regional situation.

That approach has limited the near-term risk of escalation, but allowed Tehran and the Houthis to keep the showdown simmering at their preferred temperature. It also reflects the underlying fatigue of a US military that lacks enough cruise missiles, laser-guided bombs, strike aircraft and warships to prosecute the campaign more aggressively without compromising its readiness for conflicts elsewhere.

The real problem with this war is that the U.S. and its allies have been trying to compel the Houthis through a bombing campaign that could not realistically succeed. The U.S. chose to escalate the conflict in January without having any idea of how it would achieve its stated goals. Now it is stuck with an ongoing conflict that it isn’t winning but that it refuses to end out of pride and stubbornness. Further escalation would destabilize the region more and expose more U.S. forces to attack, but it would not solve the main problem that the war has never been worth fighting.

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Yemen: Hodeidah port attack by Israel was a ‘potential war crime’

Last month’s Israeli air strikes on Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah could constitute a war crime, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

The rights group described the attacks as potentially “unlawful, indiscriminate or disproportionate”, and said they were likely to impact civilians in the country.

Israel carried out air strikes on the Yemeni city after a drone launched by the country’s Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, hit central Tel Aviv, killing one person.

The Houthis, who control Sanaa and most of northern and western Yemen, have been launching drone attacks towards Israel in response to its ongoing military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Serious violations of the laws of war committed wilfully, that is deliberately or recklessly, are war crimes,” HRW said.

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