Will the U.S. strikes in Yemen cause an escalation in the Middle East?
According to a New York Post report, Houthi rebels are threatening the U.S. after more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen were hit by U.S. forces in retaliatory strikes. Now, the rebels are saying the U.S. and UK will pay a “heavy price.”
From The New York Post:
In a recorded address, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said 73 strikes hit five regions of Yemen under their control on Thursday — killing at least five people and wounding six others.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” he said.
Senior Houthi official Hussein al-Ezzi also said in a Google-translated post on X: “America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression.”
Separately, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the chief negotiator and spokesperson for the Iran-funded group, described the US and Britain as having “committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression.”
“They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he said, vowing that the group will continue to target “Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.”
But for the past few weeks, the Islamist extremist group has targeted ships that have little to no connection to Israel.
Meanwhile, members of President Biden’s own party are blasting Joe for circumventing Congress to carry out the airstrikes against the Houthi rebels.
“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east [sic] conflict,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) tweeted. “That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.”
“Section 2C of the War Powers Act is clear: POTUS may only introduce the US into hostilities after Congressional authorization or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under imminent attack,” Khanna went on. “Reporting is not a substitute. This is a retaliatory, offensive strike.”
More over at The New York Post:
Houthi rebels say US will pay a ‘heavy price’ for strikes that killed 5, injured 6 https://t.co/9SRf6TlX5E pic.twitter.com/Q3wMpGfeee
— New York Post (@nypost) January 12, 2024