CLAIM: President Joe Biden boasted in Thursday’s State of the Union address that he ordered airstrikes on Yemen “to degrade the capabilities of the Houthis.”
Verdict: Mostly False — Biden ordered the airstrikes, but openly admitted to reporters that they did not work to prevent Houthi attacks.
In what could be his final speech as president after the 2024 election to a joint session of the House and Senate on Thursday night, Biden spoke out against the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group officially known as Ansar Allah and based in Yemen. He briefly touched on ongoing operations by the Houthi group. , to disrupt world commercial shipping by bombing random ships sailing in and around the Red Sea.
The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s capital Sanaa since 2014 when they invaded the city and started a civil war against Yemen’s legitimate government. The government was relocated to the southern port city of Aden, where it remains today.
After declaring war on Israel in October, the Houthis began attacking ships seemingly at random, a show of support for fellow Iranian-backed jihadist group Hamas and the October 7 siege of Israel. Ta. Houthi leaders initially said they would only attack ships with ties to Israel, but later expanded their targets to include British and American vessels in response to the airstrikes. The Houthis have not restrained their attacks, bombing ships associated with allies such as Russia, China and Iran at various times throughout the year. The Houthi attacks have caused insurance premiums to soar for shipping companies and led to massive diversions of shipping traffic from around the Cape of Good Hope in the Middle East and Africa.
After finishing part of his speech promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state, one of Hamas’s most important goals, Biden turned to the shipping crisis caused by the Houthis.
The crew of a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker hit by a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels battle a fire on board caused by a January 2024 airstrike. (Indian Navy, Associated Press)
“Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran. That’s why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to protect international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.” Biden said. “I ordered the attack to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities and protect U.S. forces in the region.”
“As Commander-in-Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and service members,” he promised.
The “coalition” Biden claims to have built is Operation Prosperity Guardian, announced in December, a group whose many countries have chosen to remain anonymous, working together to protect shipping traffic in the Red Sea region. It is said that Operation Prosperity Guardian did little to stop the Houthi attacks. It is notable that the initiative’s publicly known list of members does not include Israel itself, the biggest target of the Houthi campaign, or major regional powers such as Saudi Arabia.
Airstrikes are most often carried out in parallel with the UK and are often specified as not being part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. Mr. Biden himself clarified that the airstrikes have not made any difference to the protection of shipping in the region.
On January 18, journalists asked Biden whether the airstrikes were effective.
“By the way, when you say ‘working,’ are they stopping the Houthis? No. Do they continue? Yes,” Biden responded.
The day before the State of the Union address, the Houthis carried out their first deadly attack since the October 7 operation, killing three civilian sailors in a ballistic missile attack on the MV. true confidencea Liberian-owned merchant ship registered in Barbados.
