Posted on 03/16/2025 6:01:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Despite having been handed a few big steaming kettles of FO by the Trump administration and the U.S. military in recent days, Yemen's Houthi rebels still seem to think they are in the FA stage. In the latest laughable claim, a Houthi spokesman, one Yahya Sarea, bragged about a Houthi attack on an American ship - not just any ship, mind you, but the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
US warships shot down around a dozen drones fired by Yemen's Houthi terrorists 'well before' they could pose a threat, a senior defence official revealed just hours after the rebels claimed to have mounted an attack.
American F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft have shot down 11 drones fired by the terror group since President Donald Trump approved an order for air strikes over Yemen on Saturday night, Fox News reported.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drones did not come close to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which has played a key role in the latest military action.
Tracking also showed at least one Houthi missile failed in flight and splashed down in the waters off Yemen.
The US military took no action because it was not deemed a threat, the official said.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea delivered a message on March 16, 2025 saying they've launched an offensive against the USS Harry S. Truman using 'missiles and drones.'🤬 pic.twitter.com/ffzmEUcYjN— Sumner (@renmusb1) March 16, 2025
It was not deemed a threat, that is, by anyone besides the Houthis. Their spokesman tried to spin it:
The Iran-backed terror group said, without offering evidence, that they attacked the Truman and its warships with ballistic missiles and drones in response to US attacks.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Sunday: 'The armed forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships in the northern Red Sea, using 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in a joint operation carried out by the missile force, Drone Air Force and the naval forces.'
The US Navy's reply was, essentially, "I'm sorry, who did you say you were again?"
The really entertaining thing about this is that the Navy scarcely even noticed the attack. One missile failed in flight; the drones didn't come anywhere near the carrier. Air Force and Navy fighters have been engaging these drones in what appears to be a 21st-century re-enactment of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, with the main difference being that in 1944, the Japanese Imperial Navy had ships and actual aircraft.
The Houthis seem to have two goals in this operation: To set an entirely new definition of the term "asymmetrical warfare" and to exceed Saddam Hussein's Iraq for impotent threats and other gaseous emissions from the group's leaders.
See Related:Â Delusional: Houthis Threaten US With Images of Flag-Draped Coffins
'Peace Through Strength Is Back'—SecDef Hegseth Vows 'Unrelenting' Campaign Against Houthis
The Houthis probably do consider this a considerable attack, at least by their standards. The United States Navy barely noticed. It's a safe bet that, on the USS Harry S. Truman, the sailors in line at the ice cream machine didn't even flinch.
The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, where all this is taking place, is a vital international shipping route; it carries about 12 percent of the world's shipping every year. That makes it important to global trade, and the Trump administration is concerned about global trade - and the U.S. Navy has, since World War 2, enforced a Pax Americana on the world's primary shipping lanes. And for all their blustering, the Houthi are learning some important lessons about having their mouths write checks that their butts can't cash.
Let’s not get cocky.....has anyone thought this might be an exploratory attack to learn about response time and tactics?
Exactly. We have to be perfect, and never miss a single threat.
They just have to be lucky and get one shot through, which may or may not cause any lasting damage, but will be a massive PR win for them.
Never underestimate a threat.
Track where the drones and missiles came from and destroy the sites right away then target Irans military navy and air force and nuclear facilities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.