James Stavridis, a retired US Navy Admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, published a highly critical column of US operations in the Red Sea in Bloomberg yesterday (Saturday).
Stavridis said that in the face of constant Houthi attacks on ships and sailors, increasing shipping and goods costs for people around the globe, "the Western response has been anemic, indecisive, and mostly defensive," mostly consisting of having "shot down numerous drones, engaged some of the surface craft and launched a handful of strikes ashore at Houthi infrastructure that is directly tied to the attacks."
Stavridis said that his experience in dealing with far more poorly equipped pirates in Somalia taught him that a good defensive posture, of the sort the US has been engaged in, is "necessary but not sufficient."
The former NATO commander recommended a far more concerted effort to destroy Houthi command and control infrastructure and most critically - directly threatening the Iranian supply lines to the Houthis, as well as the Iranian vessels and craft used to assist them.
To counter claims that this would bring the two countries on the brink of war, he said that:
"Some may find direct strikes against Iranian sovereign assets too provocative. I’d invite anyone looking at the situation to reflect on the direct attacks thus far — now numbering in the dozens — of ballistic missiles and drones shot down (fortunately) by US warships. If one of those ballistic missiles were to get through and strike a US destroyer with a tightly packed crew of 350 sailors, we would be very close to a war with Iran. Better to send a strong signal now than to have to react with overwhelming firepower against Tehran after US casualties."