On Monday, President Trump took to his Truth Social account to count coup on Yemen’s Houthis – and to deliver a warning to their patron, Iran.
The president’s TS post reads in full:
The Iran-backed Houthi Terrorists have been decimated by the relentless strikes over the past two weeks. Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us. We hit them every day and night â Harder and harder. Their capabilities that threaten Shipping and the Region are rapidly being destroyed. Our attacks will continue until they are no longer a threat to Freedom of Navigation. The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at U.S. ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.
On Sunday, my colleague Bob Hoge informed us that Iran had rejected talks with the United States, following which President Trump promised consequences.
See Also: Iran Rejects Talks With US, Trump Vows ‘Bombing Like You’ve Never Seen Before’
Bob writes:
Iran continues to be one of the worldâs worst actors, and Bidenâs appeasement of the despotic regime has proven to be very dangerous indeed. Trump is right to recognize the danger, but itâs not going to be easy to put a stop to their antics. Strangling their economy might be the best place to startâunless, of course, we unleash âbombing like youâve never seen before.â
We can certainly put the squeeze on what’s left of Iran’s economy. There are already sanctions in place, and President Trump has spoken of “secondary tariffs” in dealings with other nations, and presumably that’s on the table for Iran as well. But, while we can hit the Houthis with impunity, a serious air campaign against Iran is a little more difficult.
First: Any prolonged campaign would have to be approved by Congress. And, as we know all too well, certain elements in Congress actually support Iran and its clients. Fortunately, they are in the minority.
Second: We have unchallenged air superiority over Yemen and the Houthis, who appear to be using mostly Vietnam-era military hardware. They have no aircraft at all, and their attempts to engage American fighters and strike aircraft with the few man-portable surface-to-air missiles they have been given have been less than impressive. While Iran has few operational aircraft, the best of which are a few F-14 Tomcats dating back to the days of the Shah, and a few old Soviet-era MiG 29s, they do have more modern air defenses, thanks to Russia and Tsar Vladimir I. That and the size of Iran make it a tougher nut to crack. Not impossible – but tougher.
An extensive bombing campaign on Iran, we can hope, is being viewed by the Trump administration as a last resort. A few limited strikes on their nuclear capacity, though, may well be worth doing. Last week, we should note, the administration sent “multiple” B-2 Spirit bombers to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, from where they can strike targets pretty much anywhere in the Middle East and in large parts of eastern Africa to boot.
It’s an interesting situation in the “ancient Chinese curse” sense, and one that could turn much more interesting very quickly.
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