Fox News: Biden administration needs a “more aggressive” plan to confront the Houthis in Yemen

A report by the American Fox News network spoke about the escalation of discontent with the United States avoiding taking direct action against the Houthis in Yemen, amid calls for the administration of US President Joe Biden to adopt a "more aggressive" plan to confront the Iranian-backed group.

The report, translated by "Yemeni Youth Net", said, "While most of the world's attention is directed towards Israel's battles with Hezbollah and Hamas, the US Navy is directing its attention towards another Iranian proxy, represented by the Houthi rebels in Yemen."

In an effort to maintain peace in international waterways, the Navy finds itself fending off attacks by shadowy gangs of what the report describes as “pirates” who have gone from arming themselves with assault rifles, pickup trucks and motorboats — to a seemingly endless supply of drones, missiles and other weapons.

The Houthis often attack unarmed Western ships carrying goods through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden — while the United States has responded in kind with drone attacks on Yemen.

That has made the waters dangerous along a trade route that normally carries about $1 trillion in goods, as well as aid shipments to war-torn Sudan and the people of Yemen. And as the attacks continue, some experts argue that the U.S. response has not been strong enough to deter the Houthis from inflicting billions of dollars in damage on the global economy.

“The US response has been ineffective,” Can Kasapoglu, a fellow at the Hudson Institute who specializes in Middle East political and military affairs, told Fox News Digital.

“We have very limited intelligence on [the Houthis] and they are in a different part of the world, in a far corner of the Middle East,” he added. “But this corner is also next to a choke point in global trade. The Houthis are the most aggressive of Iran’s proxy networks. The United States has never proactively targeted the Houthi leadership.”

The United States responded to the attacks with air and missile defense efforts, intercepting drones and missiles — and only engaged the Houthis when an attack was imminent, Kasapoglu said.

“We’ve never seen a high-yield targeted killing campaign by the United States. For example, Israel killed [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah. Or just as Israel, for example, went after the top generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, that’s what’s missing — that the United States move against the critical leadership.”

In addition to destroying cargo bound for the West, regular Houthi attacks drive up insurance costs: premiums for some ships have risen tenfold. They also force some ships to travel long distances — around the Horn of Africa, which can add $1 million to fuel costs for a round trip.

“They are launching relatively low-cost weapons systems, and inflicting significant economic damage on the West on behalf of Iran. This is a very profitable business,” Kasapoglu said.

One argument for restraint could be the cost of the operation: Houthi drones are estimated to cost a few thousand dollars each, while the naval missiles the United States fires at them could cost around $2 million per shot.

Biden administration needs 'more aggressive' plan to confront Houthis

On Tuesday, the rebel group claimed to have shot down a multimillion-dollar U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper drone flying near Yemen. The United States has acknowledged losing one of the drones, which cost about $30 million each.

In January, Iranian-backed militias killed three American service members and wounded 40 others in an attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. The United States responded forcefully to the attack with a series of airstrikes on 85 targets across Iraq and Syria.

“That response has proven effective, and I think we can certainly do more of that — take that approach,” said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, former security coordinator for the Israeli-Palestinian Authority.

Since the Houthis took over the north of the country and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the U.S. military has seen Reaper drones shot down in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. The U.S. military acknowledged that the Houthis shot down two MQ-9 drones in September.