Trump Escalates the Illegal War in Yemen

A more intense bombing campaign aimed at Yemen’s cities is sure to kill many more innocent people.

The Trump administration is continuing and escalating the illegal war in Yemen:

The United States began to carry out large-scale military strikes on Saturday against dozens of targets in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, according to local news reports and two senior U.S. officials. It was the opening salvo in what American officials said was a new offensive against the militants.

Trump’s escalation in Yemen was predictable, but it is a terrible mistake. The president said in his announcement that he was ordering “decisive and powerful” military action against the Houthis, but it will be anything but decisive. The Houthis faced intense bombardment during the Saudi coalition intervention and emerged stronger than they were before. The Biden administration’s bombing campaign likewise failed to coerce them. The Trump administration’s campaign will be no more successful in forcing the Houthis to do what the U.S. wants.

The initial airstrikes appear to have targeted many urban areas across Yemen. The first reports said that there were at least nine civilian casualties with more civilians injured. A more intense bombing campaign aimed at Yemen’s cities is sure to kill many more innocent people. Given the administration desire to loosen rules of engagement and their lack of concern about civilian casualties, we have to assume that a bombing campaign in Yemen will be reckless and indiscriminate.

The decision to escalate against the Houthis is also more proof that the president prefers pointless hawkish policies most of the time. Intensifying the war in Yemen makes no sense for U.S. interests or regional stability. It will also guarantee that the Houthis resume attacks on commercial shipping after they had already stopped. The Houthis said that they would resume the Red Sea blockade in response to Israel’s ongoing starvation of Gaza, but they had not actually launched any attacks on commercial ships since the tenuous ceasefire took effect in January. The U.S. attacked them anyway, and now we can expect the attacks on shipping and U.S. vessels to begin again very soon.

Trump has provided the Houthis with the perfect excuse to do the very thing that he demands that they must not do. The Houthi leadership will likely delight in continuing to defy Washington, and they can present their next attacks as a response to continued American aggression. The more Yemeni civilians that U.S. bombs kill, the more that the ire of the population will be directed against our government. By providing the Houthis with an external enemy, Trump is helping them to retain and strengthen their grip on power.

Just as he did in his first term, Trump has chosen to escalate a war he inherited from his predecessor. Once again, he had the opportunity to wind down U.S. involvement in an unnecessary war in Yemen, and he refused to do it. When it comes down to it, he will do what the hardliners around him want because he agrees with their view of the world.

Trump is doing this at least in part to prove that he is “tougher” than Biden. Biden waged a useless, illegal war against the Houthis for the last year of his presidency, and it achieved nothing except to bolster the Houthis’ political standing and burn through expensive U.S. munitions. It would have been easy for Trump to abandon Biden’s failed war, but he is so determined to paint Biden as a “weak” leader that he thinks that he has to be even more aggressive than Biden was.

The president also warned Iran against further support for the Houthis, saying, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!” That implies that he might be considering expanding the conflict to include attacks on Iranian targets. Iran hawks have been fretting that Trump might be open to some sort of bargain with Tehran, but this is the latest sign that they have nothing to worry about.

As the latest escalation in Yemen shows us, Trump is instinctively aggressive and will lash out for no good reason if he thinks it makes him look “strong.” Now that he is surrounded by nothing but yes-men, there is no one there to discourage him from resorting to military action when he wants to attack another country. Today he is ordering attacks on Yemen, but I bet this won’t be the last country that he chooses to attack.