Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias.
Articles & Testimony
Despite the embarrassing PR, “mowing the grass” by targeting Houthi capabilities and personnel has value if repeated periodically—perhaps by an Israeli-Arab “Red Sea security group” if Washington is no longer willing to take the lead.
After 52 days of combat, President Trump ordered the cessation of U.S. airstrikes on the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist organization on May 6. A fragile Omani-brokered agreement will notionally see the Houthis stop attacking U.S. military ships, aircraft and drones if the U.S. stops its strikes on the Yemeni group. Thus, Operation Rough Rider—over a thousand U.S. airstrikes launched in seventy waves—comes to an untidy end, at least for now. Rough Rider commenced on March 15 because the Houthis threatened to attack Israeli shipping in the Red Sea if the Gaza ceasefire broke down. On May 7, hours after Trump suspended U.S. operations, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam repeated exactly the same threat against Israel and “Israeli ships.” This perfect circle makes one ask: Did the U.S. just conduct a thousand airstrikes, spend about a billion dollars, and lose eight drones and two F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft for nothing?...
