Houthis MUST be tackled with force – they cannot be allowed to hold the world to ransom over fake claims about Palestine
JUST like in World War Two, four RAF pilots flew directly over their targets and watched their bombs score direct hits before heading home.
Now critics of last night’s raids by Britain and the US on Houthi rebel strongholds in Yemen claim it heralds World War Three.
That scenario is extremely remote.
And the West was absolutely right to do what it did.
The Islamist Houthi terrorists, who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea for weeks, were given a loud and clear warning to stop.
That warning came from an international coalition of 13 nations who expect world shipping to be able to use the Red Sea and the Suez Canal free from attack.
Also, earlier this week the United Nations Security Council passed a strongly worded resolution calling on the Houthis to desist immediately.
It also reasserted the West’s right to self-defence in pursuit of freedom of navigation.
Russia and China, who might have been expected to veto it, did not.
Instead, they abstained.
For those reasons it was absolutely right and legal that military action was taken.
Because the consequences of not taking action would be worse.
It would allow the Houthis to hold the world to ransom and strengthen Iran’s malign influence across the whole region.
One reason the Chinese did not veto the United Nations resolution, and abstained instead, is because the Red Sea crisis is really hurting them.
Their need to trade as efficiently as possible with Europe is pretty high.
And they are suffering as well. Two months ago the cost of getting one shipping container from Shanghai to Rotterdam was £1,500.
Now it is upwards of £3,500.
The Houthis need to be put back in their box. They are just exploiting the crisis because they think they have the Iranians behind them.
Our job is to get the Iranians to wind their necks in and break the link between Iran and the Houthis.
They should accept this sort of enforcement action has to be taken.
The Houthis pose as the Arab world’s only fighters against Israel and claim to be solely attacking ships with Israeli connections.
But it is not true. They have been taking pot-shots at everything.
The Houthis claim they are doing it in solidarity with the Palestinians and say that if there was a ceasefire in Gaza, they would stop.
That is absolute hypocrisy. They are NOT doing this in solidarity with the Palestinians. It is pure opportunism.
The Houthis would be doing this whatever goes on in Gaza. They are using this crisis for their own purposes.
They were on the verge of a peace deal in Yemen after years of war with the Saudi-backed UN-recognised government.
I am sure they calculate that when the Red Sea crisis is over, their status will be increased going into peace negotiations inside Yemen.
Will the West’s military action work? No. Not at first.
This attack by the US and Britain — with non-operational support from Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Bahrain — is unlikely to be the end of it.
I am sure the Houthis will respond with more attacks and we will end up carrying out further enforcement action — possibly for a while.
It will be messy because there are always unintended consequences when military action is taken.
But in this case, it is still better than not acting.
The Houthis firing on ships in the Red Sea area is an overt challenge to international law and order. And to world trade.
It could go on for a little while yet, which is where it becomes open-ended and more difficult.
Fire and brimstone
We have just got to live with that. We have to face down criticism.
I am sure the Houthis will feel they have to respond to yesterday’s strikes, and they want to fire off lots of drones and missiles to show they can.
There is a tactical benefit to this.
As and when they launch, we will have a better idea where their facilities are based.
We will know where they are storing their missiles and where they are firing them from.
And when they make their next move from those particular launch sites, it may be the last launch they ever make from that location.
We have to accept that, militarily, this crisis might go on for a while, but it is unlikely to escalate politically because the Iranians know what we want and what we require — for them to stop playing games.
They are trying to push the West as far as possible and we need to show them that our red lines really mean something.
The Iranians will talk fire and brimstone because they always do, but we believe they do not want a wider war.
And nor do we.