Two US Navy Destroyers Come Under Attack While Escorting American Ships
Two U.S. Navy destroyers successfully defended themselves this past weekend against missile attacks targeting American vessels in the Red Sea.
“U.S. Navy destroyers USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USS O’Kane (DDG 77) successfully defeated a range of Houthi-launched weapons while transiting the Gulf of Aden, Nov. 30 — Dec. 1,” U.S. Central Command announced in a statement on its website.
The statement continued, “The destroyers were escorting three U.S.-owned, operated, and flagged merchant vessels. The reckless attacks resulted in no injuries and no damage to any vessels, whether civilian or U.S. Naval.”
According to the release, “The destroyers successfully engaged and defeated three anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), three one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems (OWA UAS), and one anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM), ensuring the safety of the ships and their personnel, as well as civilian vessels and their crews.”
The Houthis have targeted Red Sea shipping since last October as an expression of support for Hamas during Israel’s military operations in Gaza. While the Biden administration has conducted several airstrikes in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen since January, these efforts have not fully deterred the attacks.
Recent incidents occurred shortly after the International Institute for Strategic Studies published a report advocating for a revised approach toward the Houthis.
“After 12 months of sustained attacks on Western shipping, it seems obvious that the current response by the international community has failed to reach its stated goals. Despite their military superiority, the U.S. and its allies have not seriously degraded the capability of the Houthis to launch attacks, nor their ability to resupply their arsenals,” the report highlighted.
The analysis further stated that the Houthis have become more entrenched within Yemen by resisting U.S. strikes. It also criticized the lack of a coordinated political strategy to complement military actions.
Amid these developments, Ilan Berman, Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council, wrote in a Newsweek Op-Ed that addressing the Houthi issue should be a top priority for President-elect Trump. He noted that Red Sea trade has plummeted by 90 percent over the past year, impacting more than 65 nations, with Egypt alone losing $6 billion in trade.
“Worse, the Biden administration seems to have basically acquiesced to the current state of affairs in the Red Sea,” Berman argued. He pointed out that while Trump had designated the Houthis as a terrorist group during his first term, Biden reversed this decision in 2021.
“A fresh look is sorely needed,” Berman emphasized, suggesting that the U.S. should not only reclassify the Houthis as terrorists but also designate them as pirates subject to severe international penalties.
He also called for increased pressure on Iran to curb its support for the Houthis. “Washington so far has remained largely silent regarding Iran’s role in enabling Houthi attacks, despite authoritative evidence that weapons deliveries from the Islamic Republic are responsible for making the group’s activities possible,” he wrote. He suggested that “Houthi predation could be curtailed dramatically if America and its allies move to a policy of extended attribution, whereby Houthi actions have consequences not only for the Yemeni terror group itself but for its paymasters in Tehran.”
Berman concluded by asserting that the U.S. must rebuild its regional credibility and secure commerce in the Middle East. “For Donald Trump, who stressed the need for fresh economic policies while on the campaign trail, setting his sights on the Houthis would simply constitute good business.”