The USS Carney in Istanbul. Reuters.
The American Destroyer, USS Carney, has shot down several drones and missiles launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen towards Israel. Reuters. The attack involved three cruise missiles and several drones. The Carney was stationed in the Red Sea and was in the pathway of the missiles, but is not believed to be the target for the attack. The US Navy has deployed significant forces to the region, including two carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean.
In Syria, the al-Tanf garrison came under attack by drones. AP. One drone was shot down by forces on the ground but the other drone was able to cause minor injuries to American troops on the ground. Al-Tanf is located on the border with Jordan and is near supply routes that Iran has used to supply Hezbollah. Drone strikes have been hitting US bases in both Syria and Iraq.
My Comment:
It looks like the war between Israel and Hamas is becoming a much larger regional conflict. Both of these attacks show a significant increase of who is actually involved in the conflict. Both the Houthi rebels and Iran's militias appear to be involved in the conflict now.
I was actually surprised that the Houthis were able to launch missiles targeting Israel. I was aware that they had the Burkan 2 ballistic missiles, but they do not have the range to hit Israel. They do have a few Burkan-3 missiles but I wasn't aware they had cruise missiles, which this attack appears to have been. That means that the Houthis are actually a threat to Israel and given that there is a cease fire between them and Saudi Arabia they can launch all of them without worrying about what the Saudis do.
Are they a real threat to Israel? Not really. These cruise missiles are small and vulnerable to anti-air defenses like the USS Carney just proved. The drones and ballistic missiles could be more of a threat but the drones are vulnerable to air defenses and I don't know that Yemen has too many Burkan missiles left. Even if some missiles and/or drones get through what they could actually accomplish is limited. Still, it's more pressure on Israel at a time where they can't really afford it.
The attack on US bases in Syria in Iraq are probably more significant. The attack on al-Tanf was the only one that resulted in any injuries but it was far from the only one. Many bases came under attack by these drones and though they aren't that big of a threat they could be a prelude to bigger attacks. Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias have attacked and even killed American troops. Such a thing is very possible.
Why are these militias attacking places like al-Tanf? I think they are trying to move weapons to the border with Israel and wanted to disrupt al-Tanf so they couldn't do the same to the Iranian convoys. I do think that Hezbollah will be launching attacks into Israel if a land invasion happens. Since the US is on the same side as Israel it makes sense that they would try and prevent weapons from getting to the border.
These attacks were very minor but it does show that Iran is getting more involved in the war. I don't think they will join the war directly, that would risk the invocation of the Samson Option. Iran does not want to see Tehran get nuked so they will be limited to using their proxies. Both the Houthis and Hezbollah are unofficial Iranian troops and there is at least some plausible deniability if they attack Israel.
It also appears very likely that America will get dragged into this conflict whether we like it or not. Biden was begging for money for Israel and Ukraine today with his speech (that I didn't watch) and it seems pretty clear that Biden's willing to attack Iranian proxies. I don't really have a problem against limited strikes if US troops are on the line but what I worry about is Biden attacking government troops in Syria or even striking Iran directly. Biden's absolutely not all there and he is a bit of a warmonger in the best of times and I do not trust him to do the right thing on this issue.
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