On Monday, January 22, 2024, the United States and Britain carried out large-scale military strikes against eight sites in Yemen controlled by Houthi militants. This marks the eighth strike in less than two weeks, signaling the Biden administration’s intent to wage a sustained and open-ended campaign against the Iran-backed group.

The strikes, carried out under the operation name Poseidon Archer, hit multiple targets at each site and were bigger and broader than previous strikes against individual Houthi missiles. These strikes were a response to the group’s disruption of traffic in vital international sea lanes, posing a threat to global trade.

The strikes, carried out by carrier-based Navy FA-18 fighter jets, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and British Typhoon warplanes, targeted radars, drone and missile sites, and underground weapons storage bunkers. While smaller than the first retaliatory salvos on January 11, they were still significant in their scope and impact.

However, the strikes have so far failed to deter the Houthis from attacking shipping lanes, with the group claiming to have attacked an American military cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on the same day. The White House and Pentagon have denied this attack, but the Houthis remain defiant, vowing to retaliate against any further aggression.

President Biden has made it clear that the airstrikes will continue, stating that they are not stopping the Houthis, but will continue. In recent days, the administration has held high-level meetings to discuss their strategy towards the Houthis, with Jon Finer, a deputy national security adviser, stating that they are targeting the group’s stockpiles of advanced weapons provided by Iran.

The airstrikes were a response to over two dozen Houthi drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November. While the strikes have hit a significant number of targets, they have only damaged or destroyed around 20-30% of the Houthis’ offensive capability. This is due to the group’s ability to move and hide their weaponry on mobile platforms.

However, U.S. intelligence agencies have increased their efforts in recent months to collect data on the location of Houthi targets. This change came after the Houthi attacks on commercial ships and the Hamas attacks in Israel, with analysts working to identify potential targets every day.

Despite these efforts, some Republicans in Congress and former senior U.S. military officials are critical of the approach, stating that the key is to hurt the Houthis enough to make them stop. General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., a retired head of the military’s Central Command, stated in an interview that the strikes have not yet achieved this goal.

As the region teeters on the edge of a wider war, the Biden administration remains determined to defend the free flow of commerce and protect lives in one of the world’s most critical waterways. With the support of allies such as the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and Bahrain, they will continue to take action against the Houthis and their threats to global trade. Let us honor our brave military personnel who risk their lives to defend our nation and its interests on this R.E.D. Friday.