The United States’ use of one of its most important and expensive weapons systems, the B-2 stealth bomber, against underground Houthi munitions facilities in Yemen sends a broader message that will be heard in Tehran amid Iran’s confrontation with Israel, US ally.
Sending its rare $2 billion B-2 bombers — the U.S. Air Force has just 19 of them — to target a group that doesn’t have anywhere near that level of sophisticated military equipment seems, at first glance, like overkill.
Washington has been content to use state-of-the-art weapons fired from aircraft and warships in the region to strike Houthi targets over the past year, suffering minimal or no damage to their platforms.
But the words of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when announcing the attack were revealing:
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to strike installations that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried, hardened or fortified they are.”
He also said Washington “will not hesitate to take steps to prevent attacks against civilians and our regional partners.”
These words point to Iran in two ways.
Many of Tehran’s nuclear and military command facilities are believed to be in hardened underground facilities. And there is no more important U.S. “regional partner” in the Middle East than Israel.
As the world awaits Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile strikes, Washington is sending a signal to Tehran that it will only tolerate limited future actions against Israel.
The last reported combat mission by a B-2 bomber was in January 2017. It would be hard to believe that the US waited more than seven years — and a year of confrontation with the Houthis — to send a costly message just to the group.
“USA will pay the price”
Yemen’s Houthis have vowed that the United States will “pay the price” after Washington launched airstrikes against the Iran-backed group, targeting five underground weapons storage facilities using B-2 stealth bombers.
“America will pay the price for its aggression in Yemen, and as we have said before, its aggression will not deter Yemen from its position of support for Gaza,” said Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthis’ X media office.
The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, for months, in what they say is a response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis are all part of an Iran-led alliance spanning Yemen, Syria, Gaza and Iraq that has attacked Israel and its allies since the start of the war. They say they will not stop attacking Israel and its allies until a ceasefire is reached in the Palestinian enclave.
(With input from Brad Lendon, Eyad Kourdi, Alex Stambaugh and Helen Regan of CNN )
This content was originally published in US uses one of its most expensive planes to attack Houthis in Yemen; group promises retaliation on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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