“Trump’s surprise announcement that the U.S. will stop airstrikes against the Houthis is the right decision, regardless of whether the group stops targeting U.S. vessels,” said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities. “The Houthi threat was always more hype than substance.”
Kelanic argued the group’s attacks on shipping “neither damaged the U.S. economy nor contributed to inflation, which actually went down during the militant group’s assaults throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.” In her view, “the Houthis’ biggest achievement was tricking the U.S. into wasting some $7 billion of its own resources by bombing them.”
“Trump’s bold choice shows there are offramps from endless escalation in the Middle East,” she added.
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