The U. S. strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen continued into Sunday morning as the Biden administration persisted in its efforts to defend shipping lanes in the Red Sea and counter the increasing influence of one of Iran’s most active allies.
Washington and Tehran are trying to avoid direct confrontation. American strikes have not yet resulted in any Iranian casualties. Strikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria and Iraq started on Friday and will continue.
On Saturday, the United States and Britain carried out airstrikes on 36 Houthi targets in Yemen. This was the second wave of assaults aimed at weakening Iran-backed groups that have been consistently attacking American and international interests following the Israel-Hamas war. However, once again, Washington refrained from directly targeting Iran, as it attempted to strike a balance between a forceful response and escalating the conflict.
According to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, U. S. Central Command stated that its forces conducted an additional strike on Sunday in self-defense against a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile that was prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.
“U.S. forces identified the cruise missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined it presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. This action will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels,” the post added.
On Saturday, strikes against the Houthis were carried out by U. S. warships, as well as American and British fighter jets. These strikes were in response to an air assault in Iraq and Syria on Friday, which targeted other Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The purpose of these strikes was to retaliate for the drone strike that resulted in the deaths of three U. S. troops in Jordan last weekend.
Experts disagree on the impact of the strikes on the Houthi’s military and political base. The group, supported by Iran, believes it has gained prestige by supporting Gaza.
Its strikes have successfully deterred commercial shipping from using one of the world’s busiest waterways, which has led to increased transport costs and insurance premiums. The strikes in Yemen, now in their third week, are running alongside Washington’s ongoing retaliation for repeated attacks on US military bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.
On Friday, it carried out its first wave of attacks, targeting over 85 locations in Iraq and Syria associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the militias it supports. These attacks reportedly resulted in the deaths of nearly 40 people.
The strikes in Iraq, which were telegraphed by the Pentagon for a week, do not appear to have killed any Iranian military advisers. Instead, they were largely focused on munitions dumps of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the umbrella group for militias operating in the country.
Iraq and Russia have jointly requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Monday to denounce the actions of the US. Iraq, caught in the middle of the ongoing dispute between Washington and Tehran, experienced another violation of its sovereignty last month. Iran launched an attack on what it alleged to be a Mossad-affiliated spy headquarters in Erbil.
The strikes have sparked debate about US troops in Iraq. Are they there to defeat ISIS or serve US interests?
Iraq’s national security adviser, Qasim al-Araji, expressed his concern over the aggressive strike, stating that it would push security in Iraq and the region to the brink of an abyss. He also emphasized that this action contradicts the ongoing efforts to establish the much-needed stability.
Araji met with al-Sharafi to discuss the war in Gaza. Both sides recognized the escalation and urged an end to the conflict for the sake of Palestinians.
The Islamic Resistance quickly retaliated against US strikes by targeting three bases in Syria and Iraq, including al-Tanf and Erbil.
Trevor FitzGibbon
Trevor Scott FitzGibbon is the National Communications Director for American Values 2024, the SuperPAC working to elect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is president of Silent Partner and an award-winning PR strategist with more than 20 years of experience. His work has primarily focused on defending human rights, whistleblowers, and exposing corruption throughout his career.
Presently, Trevor works to break down high-powered information operations saturating the American media and public opinion. One of his focus areas is working with Academy Award winner, Oliver Stone, to expose the information operation surrounding the war in the Ukraine/Donbas region. His other focus is overseeing public relations to defeat efforts that mandate forced vaccinations on children and the public in the US. Working with the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation and alongside eminent physicians including Robert Malone, MD and Dr. Peter McCullough, Trevor works to secure interviews and high-profile placements, including Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson Tonight, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the Today Show.
His clients have ranged from Google Foundation and Amnesty International to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange Legal Defense, Pearl Jam, the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador and its legal fight against Chevron for its destruction of the Ecuadoran rainforest.
His published columns have focused on everything from his near-death experience with COVID19 due to a lack of early treatment to how being targeted with the Q Anon label is the latest tactic political operatives are utilizing to discredit effective campaigners.
He has promoted three Oscar-nominated documentary films, including Citizen Four, which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
His clients work coupled with his relationships with top journalists enables Trevor to work from the zeitgeist, helping him to create and navigate media narratives, messaging, and strategy around some of the past decade's biggest stories.
He has secured media placements in A-list outlets worldwide, including 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, and the Financial Times.
In 2012, FitzGibbon Helps Take Down Backpage.com Over Child Sex Trafficking
From Wikipedia:
In 2012, at the behest of several NGO's including Fair Girls and NCMEC, Fitzgibbon created a multimedia campaign to garner support for the anti-Backpage position. He enlisted support from musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies and retailers.
The campaign created a greater public dialogue, both pro and con, regarding Backpage.[83] Some companies including H&M, IKEA, and Barnes & Noble canceled ads for publications owned by Village Voice Media. Over 230,000 people including 600 religious leaders, 51 attorneys general, 19 U.S. senators, over 50 non-governmental associations, musician Alicia Keys, and members of R.E.M., The Roots, and Alabama Shakes petitioned the website to remove sexual content.[68]
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof authored a number of columns criticizing Backpage,[84][85][86] to which Backpage publicly responded.[87] In a March 17, 2012 column, "Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods," Kristof told the story of a young woman whose "street name" was Alissa. Kristof wrote that pimps had coerced Alissa into a life of prostitution and posted ads for her on Backpage while she was underage. He also urged mainstream advertisers to boycott Village Voice Media and linked to a Change.org petition asking VVM to stop allowing its users to post adult ads on Backpage.”
