Houthis promise to respond to U.S. and U.K. strike in the Red Sea
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Overnight in Yemen, the U.S. and U.K. carried out airstrikes on over a dozen targets in Houthi-controlled areas. President Biden said the strikes were in response to continued and, quote, "reckless" attacks by the Iran-backed Yemeni military force on commercial ships in the Red Sea. A NATO spokesperson called the strikes defensive and designed to preserve freedom of navigation in one of the world's most vital waterways. The Houthis, though, have vowed to retaliate. Iran condemned the U.S. strikes, and Turkey's president called them a disproportionate use of force and accused the U.S. and the U.K. of trying to turn the Red Sea into a, quote, unquote, "sea of blood." The Department of Defense press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, is here with us to discuss all this. Good morning, Major General.
PATRICK RYDER: Good morning. Thanks so much for having me.
FADEL: I want to start with these strikes. Is it time to acknowledge that the regional war that the administration has said it does not want is now here?
RYDER: Well, I think it's very important to differentiate what we're seeing in the Israel-Hamas conflict with what we're seeing in the Red Sea. At this point, we have not seen an expansion of that conflict between Israel and Hamas. And again, we're working very hard to to ensure that doesn't happen. What we've seen in the Red Sea...
FADEL: But I'm sorry, Major General, but the Houthis have very specifically said that their actions are connected to the Israel-Hamas war.
RYDER: Yeah, the fact is they've been indiscriminately targeting commercial shipping...
FADEL: Yeah.
RYDER: ...Transiting the Red sea since November. Over 50 countries have been affected by this. And as you know, I mean, it's a vital waterway that - 10 to 15% of the global trade transit this on any given day. So it has been a very dangerous situation. We've issued multiple warnings. Of course, Operation Prosperity Guardian has worked very hard to safeguard commercial shipping and mariners. But in early January, 14 countries plus the United States issued a clear and unambiguous warning that there would be consequences if these illegal and reckless attacks didn't stop.
And so what you saw last night was a multinational effort with the United States, the United Kingdom conducting strikes with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands to degrade and disrupt the Houthis' ability to conduct these kinds of attacks going forward. So certainly, it has been a priority for us since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict to prevent a wider regional conflict. That will continue to be a focus. But this action, these actions by the Houthis are putting innocent lives at risk. It's affecting the global economy. And so it required an international response.
FADEL: Now, there has been concern from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress angry that the administration carried out these airstrikes without consulting them. Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, cited Article 1 of the Constitution, saying Biden was involving the U.S. in another Middle East conflict without consulting Congress as required. Why didn't the administration consult Congress?
RYDER: Well, I'm a Department of Defense spokesperson, so I can talk about Department of Defense activities. And clearly, for for a while now, since November 19, we've seen 27 attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. And so, you know, we have been taking deliberate, thoughtful steps to deter these types of attacks, but clearly, more needed to be done on that front. Recently, we had U.S. military forces, of course, that were attacked by Houthi rebels that were in the process of attacking a commercial vessel. And so we believe that it was important to, again, work with the international community to send a clear message and to degrade and disrupt their ability to conduct these kinds of attacks in the future.
FADEL: Now, the Houthis have said they will retaliate. Do you expect that the U.S. will carry out more strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in coordination with allies?
RYDER: Well, so far, we have not seen any type of retaliatory action. Of course, we're going to continue to monitor closely. As I'm sure you can appreciate, I can't telegraph or forecast or speculate on potential future operations, but I think the secretary of Defense has been very clear that we'll take further necessary action as appropriate to safeguard the global economy, more importantly, safeguard the lives of mariners that are transiting this region.
FADEL: Now, this has definitely been wreaking economic havoc. It's dangerous. Earlier in the program, we spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein, who said that, unfortunately, in his view, these strikes may play into exactly what the Houthis wanted. I just want to play a little bit of what he said.
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GERALD FEIERSTEIN: It raises their profile regionally. It makes them a part of the A-team, if you will, in the Iranian axis of resistance.
FADEL: I just want to get your reaction to that concern that this might embolden and empower the Houthis.
RYDER: Well, again, as I highlighted earlier, we have been very focused on regional deterrence, trying to ensure that the conflict in Israel against Hamas does not widen into a broader conflict. And that, again, will continue to be a focus. But when it comes to the Red Sea and when it comes to the impact that these strikes have had on international commercial shipping and the safety of mariners, this has been an international problem. I mean, their strikes have affected over 50 countries and, as you highlighted, had economic consequences. And so again, we've taken multiple deliberate steps to try to prevent these attacks. But ultimately, at the end of the day, you know, we needed to take some more direct kinetic action to, again, degrade and disrupt their ability to conduct these attacks in the future.
FADEL: Now, you mentioned that there have been repeated warnings that this would happen if it didn't stop. It didn't stop. It's happened. With the Houthis vowing to retaliate, I mean, do you expect that these attacks will let up right away, or will this be a long-term thing?
RYDER: Well, that's certainly up to the Houthis. One would hope that they have received the message. More importantly, we've degraded and disrupted a significant amount of their capability as a result of these strikes. We'll continue to monitor the region and take action as appropriate.
FADEL: I want to ask you one more question before we let you go about really who's behind the Houthis. They are Iran-backed. How much influence does Iran have over the Houthis' actions in the Red Sea? And how much is this independent actors deciding what they want to do with the weapons that are provided to them, mostly from Iran?
RYDER: Yeah, well, we know that Iran funds, trains and equips the Houthis. And so clearly, they have lots of influence over the Houthis. And so, you know, part of this discussion includes ensuring that, you know, Iran...
FADEL: But are they directing their actions in the Red Sea?
RYDER: You know, at the end of the day, the Houthis are going to do what they want to do, but clearly, they're doing this with the tacit approval and support of Iran. And so really, we, again, would call on Iran to cease this, to direct the Houthis to cease this behavior and to ensure that international commerce can transit this international waterway safely and securely.
FADEL: We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much. Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, thank you for your time.
FEIERSTEIN: Thank you, Leila.
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