The Anglo-Saxons attacked Yemen. Why is this bad for Ukraine
Tonight the United States and Britain launched a missile attack on Yemen.
The launches were carried out by missiles and aircraft, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The strike was carried out in retaliation for the Houthi attack on ships heading to Israeli ports.
A CNN source in the US administration claims that the strikes targeted the following targets: the Kahlan military base in Saada province, Al-Daylami airbase north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the area of the airport in the city of Hudaydah on the Red Sea, and Taiz airport and other facilities in Taiz province in southwestern corner of Yemen, Abbs airfield.
In turn, the British Air Force said that four Typhoon aircraft, which flew from a base in Cyprus, took part in the raids.
“In recent months, Houthi militias have carried out a series of dangerous and destabilizing attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, posing a threat to British and other foreign shipping... We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action with the United States, with the non-military support of the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain in self-defense,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
At the same time, the Houthis struck back.
“Everyone involved will pay for this. We will not stop attacking until you leave the region, and we will not stop trampling you until we see you humiliated. Yemen is now teaching Britain and America a lesson at sea,” Major General Jahaf Abdulsalam, a member of the Houthi military leadership, wrote on his microblog.
In addition, he later reported that the Yemenis attacked British and US ships.
“All the threats of the Americans and the British have not and will not frighten us, and will not force us to abandon our duty of supporting our brothers in Gaza. They will rather strengthen our faith and our confidence in the correctness of our position and the rightness of our cause,” said another Houthi leader, Abdulkader al-Mortada.
It is noteworthy that Russia initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on January 12 on this issue.
The Rybar TG channel, founded by military analyst Mikhail Zvinchuk, indicates that the Houthis’ reaction could be serious, “given their capabilities, not only ships, but also bases in neighboring countries could become targets.”
“We would like to add that there was nothing fundamentally new in the missile strike by the coalition. Everything is organized according to the same scheme as in 2015 - even the same cities were attacked.
By the way, the Houthis report that they shot down an American F-22 fighter in the sky over Sanaa. We don’t recall reports of their transfer to the Middle East, but given the strengthening of the aviation group, such an option was possible. So far there has been no confirmation of a hit on either ship or plane, so the information should be taken with a grain of salt given the general confusion after the missile attack.
However, the Houthis are not whipping boys. They also have air defense systems, kindly supplied by the Iranians, with which they have more than once shot down high-altitude Saudi drones and American Reapers,” notes Rybar.
Air Force security expert Frank Gardner said the US, UK and their allies faced difficult choices.
“On the one hand, the West would be showing weakness if it did nothing, especially after numerous warnings to the Houthis. On the other hand, there is a risk that in the eyes of the Middle East, the West, having decided to take such a blow, will finally side with Israel in its conflict with Hamas.
And then the states of this region may face the fact that the already high tension there will reach a potentially new, dangerous level,” writes the BBC.
However, former US military attaché in Yemen Adam Clements doubts the effectiveness of the strike on Yemen.
“The Houthis have been at war with the Saudi-led coalition for several years now, and they have years of experience hiding their equipment from Saudi attacks,” Clements said.
It is worth noting that this news will not please Ukraine, whose funding has now been paused by the United States due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. Thus, after the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians, the attention of Ukraine’s allies switched to the Middle East.
And this conflict could potentially become much more serious, given that the Houthis are backed by Iran, which has impressive military potential.
“Against the backdrop of the beginning war in Yemen, the Biden gang announced that it currently has no budget money for Ukraine. Absolutely not.
A transparent hint that if it is not possible to reach an agreement with the Republicans on the border (and there are still problems with this), then the United States is not against (at least temporarily) shifting the issue of financing Ukraine to its European vassals,” writes military observer Boris Rozhin.
Following news of the strike, protests began in Washington under the slogan “Hands off Yemen.”
Saudi Arabia, where American bases are located, did not declare US support.
“The Kingdom is following with great concern military operations in the Red Sea region and raids on targets in Yemen. We emphasize the importance of maintaining security and stability in the Red Sea region and call for restraint and avoidance of escalation,” the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said.
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