This framing of the strikes in Yemen from Bloomberg is mindless do-somethingism at its worst:
Analysts and outside critics — not to mention the Houthis themselves — have said the aerial military campaign won’t prevent them from firing on more ships, especially if the US refuses to target the group’s main backer, Iran. Yet in the absence of any better options for now, the Biden administration may have no choice.
There is always a choice when deciding whether to use force or not, and in practically every case there are better options than resorting to force. Most observers acknowledge that the U.S. will not be able to compel Houthi compliance through the use of force, and it seems obvious that the problem of attacks on commercial shipping will only get worse as a result of escalation. Attacking Iranian targets would only compound the original error of escalation by widening and intensifying the conflict.
The government should not implement a policy that has no realistic chance of achieving the desired result. Taking military action that you have good reason to expect will make things worse is both stupid and wrong.
When doing something stupid and wrong, our leaders don’t get to comfort themselves by saying that they had no choice or that it is the “least bad option.” There is almost certainly a better option in this case, but our leaders have chosen not to explore the alternatives before choosing violence.
There are other options available, but the administration already ruled them out before it could consider them. Pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza is what the U.S. ought to be doing anyway, but the president refuses to do that. This article takes for granted that Israel “won’t agree” to a ceasefire in any case, but that ignores the reality that the U.S. has significant leverage that it could use to pressure Israel into accepting. The problem here is not that the U.S. can’t press for a ceasefire, but that Biden doesn’t want to try and prefers to take the path of least resistance by bombing Yemen instead.
No doubt it is politically easier to launch airstrikes against an adversary than it is to put meaningful pressure on a client, but it achieves nothing, further destabilizes the region, damages U.S. interests, and allows the client to continue committing terrible crimes. If the Israeli government weren’t killing huge numbers of civilians with indiscriminate bombing while using starvation as a weapon to create one of the worst man-made famines in decades, then perhaps the administration’s reluctance to pressure Israel would make some kind of sense. But the Israeli government is doing those things, and the administration’s continued unconditional backing for their war is indefensible.
Committing acts of war in Yemen is the Biden administration’s attempt at distracting people from the horror that the U.S. is supporting in Gaza, but striking Yemen just shows everyone that the U.S. would rather escalate another conflict instead of reining in its reckless and destructive client.