US Houthis attack a good move

Donald Trump’s “decisive and powerful” military action against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels is a positive change in US policy after the Biden administration, in one of its first and most feeble acts after taking office in January 2021, reversed their designation as a terrorist outfit.

The entire world that relies on shipping lanes that transit the Bab al-Mandab (Gate of Tears) between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the Horn of Africa has paid a high price for Joe Biden’s foolishness. So has Israel, which has been in the Houthis’ sights repeatedly.

The White House estimates that since 2023 the rag-tag rebels, using sophisticated Iranian missiles, have launched 174 attacks on US warships and 145 on US commercial vessels, with similar attacks on other nations’ craft.

Mr Trump must mean it when he says attacks “on American vessels will not be tolerated … We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”. He often talks tougher than he acts, as his “hell to pay” warnings to Hamas, without follow-up action, show.

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s statement that US strikes have already “taken out multiple Houthi leaders” is welcome. But US action is unlikely to achieve its goals unless Mr Trump can somehow ensure Iran is compelled to end its support for the rebels. Despite all that has happened in recent weeks, Mr Trump’s action is an encouraging sign that he still believes in US global leadership.