Biden Strikes the Houthis, at Last

The press is reporting that Thursday’s U.S.-British strikes against the Houthis in Yemen risk escalating the current conflict in the Middle East. That’s the wrong way to think about it. The conflict was already escalating. The question has been whether the U.S. and its allies would respond to Houthi efforts, backed by Iran, to hijack commercial shipping and shoot at the U.S. Navy.

President Biden’s patience, and his own fear of escalation, ran out Thursday night as U.S. and British forces hit more than 60 targets across 16 locations with more than 100 precision-guided munitions. The Houthis have been using these weapons depots, radars and launch sites to “endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” as the White House said in a statement.