U.S. and UK military forces carried out air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain.
President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes in response to a series of unprecedented and escalating attacks by Houthi rebels on U.S. and international maritime vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most crucial waterways for commercial shipping.
A senior administration official said Thursday evening that the strikes specifically targeted Houthi missile, radar, and UAV capabilities to disrupt and degrade their ability to threaten global trade and freedom of navigation in the shipping thoroughfare.
“This was a significant action,” a senior administration official said, adding that it was carried out with every intention and expectation of significantly reducing the Houthis’ ability to launch the types of attacks that they have carried out in recent weeks.
The U.S. and UK strikes on Houthi-controlled facilities in Yemen received “non-operational support” from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain, according to a senior military officer, who said the strikes did not target civilians in Yemen.
“I can reemphasize to you that these targets were very specifically selected for minimizing the risk of collateral damage. We were absolutely not targeting civilian population centers. We were going after very specific capability and very specific locations with precision munitions,” the senior military officer said.
Attacks by Houthi rebels, which began in mid-November, have impacted the international commercial shipping of more than 50 countries and have escalated in recent days to include direct targeting of American ships.
On Jan. 9, American vessels came under direct attack in the Houthis’ largest attack to date, involving nearly 20 drones and multiple missiles launched in multiple salvos directly against U.S. ships.
That attack was defeated by U.S. and UK naval forces under Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition of over 20 nations committed to defending international shipping and deterring Houthi aggression in the Red Sea.
“If not for this defensive mission, we have no doubt that ships would have been struck, perhaps even sunk, including, in one case, a commercial ship full of jet fuel,” a senior administration official said.
President Biden said the international community’s response to the Houthi attacks has been “united and resolute.”
More than 40 nations joined forces to condemn Houthi threats, and a warning was issued by 13 allies and partners on Jan. 3, outlining the consequences if the attacks did not cease.
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Jan. 10 demanding an end to Houthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels. Hours later, the Houthis’ leader vowed to intensify their assaults on ships in the Red Sea, Bab El-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden.
“The retaliation to any American strike will not only be at the level of the current operation, which included more than 24 drones and multiple missiles, but will be larger,” Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said on Thursday.
Following the Jan. 9 attack, President Biden called a meeting of his National Security Council and directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to carry out the strikes. The action was endorsed by countries that joined the Jan. 3 warning statement, including Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea, according to a senior administration official.
The senior administration official emphasized the president’s statement that if the attacks continue, the president “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
Impact on Global Commerce
In recent weeks, a surge in attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea has posed a significant and immediate threat to global trade. Despite the longer sailing times, shippers have been forced to avoid the Red Sea.
The president said Thursday that more than 2,000 ships have diverted.
Every year, about 19,000 ships travel through the Suez Canal. Since its completion in 1869, the waterway has served as one of the world’s most important conduits, connecting Asia and Europe.
The Red Sea is the Suez Canal’s sole southern entry point.
Many believe that the Houthi rebels’ actions to disrupt international shipping lanes aren’t just an act of war but also an attack on the global economy.
The senior administration official rejected the Houthis’ claim that their attacks are a response to the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict, and is actually about disrupting global trade.
“This is an issue about global commerce, the freedom of navigation, and threats to commercial vessels and international waterways,” the senior administration official said.
“The Houthis claim that their attacks on military and civilian vessels are somehow tied to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. That is completely baseless and illegitimate … They are firing indiscriminately on vessels with global ties.”
The disruption of Red Sea transit would necessitate longer routes around Africa, mostly via the Cape of Good Hope. To avoid attacks, some of the world’s top oil and shipping companies, including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, and oil major BP, have announced plans to skip the Red Sea route.
According to energy market data provider Vortexa, routes from India to northern Europe, for example, will now take 38 days instead of 24 days, which is a 58 percent increase, and shipping from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia route will take 40 days instead of 23 days, an increase of roughly 74 percent.
The added mileage would result in higher freight and insurance costs, as well as shipping delays and port congestion.
Impact on Inflation
According to supply chain experts, the change in routes will have an immediate effect on supply chain operations, causing major disruptions for manufacturers and retailers in Europe and the United States.
Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, believes that these attacks would have an impact on the U.S. economy.
“As the United States is shifting its sourcing away from China, most exports from India and Vietnam are shipped through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. This episode triggers another supply chain disruption,” he told The Epoch Times in an interview in December.
“The United States needs to reroute shippers from India and all other Southeast Asian countries through the Cape of Good Hope or through the Pacific Ocean. The cost will go up, as will the delay. This disruption will cause prices to increase, which will hurt the U.S. economy in the near future.”
The Suez Canal is a critical choke point in the global supply chain, and any significant disruption may have a big impact on the prices of oil and other commodities, potentially hampering President Biden’s efforts to curb inflation.
Six countries border the Red Sea. Nearly 10 to 15 percent of global trade, 8 percent of global grain trade, and 12 percent of global seaborne oil trade pass through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, according to the White House.
Vessels owned by Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and German companies account for 40 to 50 percent of overall Red Sea commercial transits.
From The Epoch Times