The US Navy says it can't stop the Houthi attacks on shipping with force alone
- The US Navy has spent months battling the Houthis in a conflict that shows no signs of ending.
- A top admiral said it will take more than military action alone to stop the Houthi attacks.
The US Navy's counter-Houthi mission will not be enough on its own to stop the Iran-backed rebels from attacking vulnerable merchant ships, the admiral overseeing operations in the Middle East said this week.
Vice Adm. George Wikoff, the commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, said that it will take more than force and firepower to deal with the Houthis. Rather, Washington and its allies must come up with an alternative way to apply pressure on the group.
"The solution is not going to come at the end of a weapon system," Wikoff said Wednesday at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "It's going to be the international community."
For over eight months, US forces have been working to defend key shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from relentless Houthi attacks. The rebels have been using one-way attack drones, naval drones, and anti-ship missiles to threaten commercial vessels and American warships deployed in the region.
US warships and aircraft have expended hundreds of munitions to regularly intercept Houthi missiles and drones and to strike the rebels in Yemen, targeting assets like weapons, launchers, and radar sites.
Top US officials have repeatedly said that these efforts are intended to strip the Houthis of their ability to conduct attacks. But as of this week, the rebels continue to launch missiles and drones at the surrounding waters.
"We have certainly degraded their capability. There's no doubt about that," Wikoff said. "However, have we stopped them? No."
"Our mission remains to disrupt their ability and try to preserve some semblance of maritime order while we give an opportunity for policy to be developed against the Houthis," he added.
Wikoff said it has been difficult to find a center of gravity for the Houthis that the US can hold at risk over time, making it a challenge to apply a classic deterrence policy in this scenario.
Right now, he said, the idea is for the Navy to maintain the status quo to allow other areas of government and the international community to kick in and pressure the Houthis to stop their attacks.
"This is a global problem — the entire globe is impacted by this problem," he said. "We can certainly try with some warships and some sailors and some folks trying their best to preserve maritime security. But this is going to require a global solution."
"The more players on the field that can get involved in the diplomatic and that piece of this, the better off I think we'll be in terms of the odds of success," Wikoff added.
Wikoff's assessment echoes similar remarks made by US officials that the military action taken so far has been unable to stop the Houthis.
His comments also follow warnings from experts and officials that the Houthi conflict is unlikely to end soon, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the US naval presence in the region and the growing financial costs of the operations.
Earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers that the Houthi threat is likely to stay active for some time because, among other reasons, the rebels recieve external assistance from Iran while also locally producing their own weapons.
Wikoff said that although Iran continues to back the Houthis, the rebels are "diversifying" where they receive support from and are domestically developing their own capabilities.
"We do believe there's an Iranian relationship here that's well-known and well-documented," he said. "But our assessment right now is — and we're certainly trying to deny that capability to make it in — we do believe that the overall supply of the Houthis is far more complex."