US Admiral says battle against Yemen largest for US since WWII

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Feb 2024 15:36
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US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper describes the conflict against the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea as one of the most significant in decades, highlighting the deployment of around 7,000 navy seals.

This Nov. 12, 2018 photo shows The USS Carney in the Mediterranean Sea. (AP)

United States Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper declared, in an interview on CBS's '60 Minutes', that the engagement against the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea constitutes one of the most significant naval battles the US has encountered in decades.

"I think you'd have to go back to World War II where you have ships who are engaged in combat," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told the host Norah O'Donnell, on Sunday, before adding that "When I say engaged in combat, where they're getting shot at, we're getting shot at, and we're shooting back."

Cooper, the deputy commander of the US Central Command, informed O'Donnell that approximately 7,000 sailors from the Navy were deployed to the Red Sea.

According to CBS, the Navy launched around 100 standard surface-to-air missiles in response to YAF missile and drone threats.

US and Yemeni sovereignty

Since mid-November, the Yemeni Armed Forces have blocked the Red and Arabian Seas in the face of Israeli vessels as well as vessels bound to Israeli ports, in support of the Resistance in the Gaza Strip and the resilient Palestinian people.

Following the joint UK-US aggression against Yemen, the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, and the US designation of Ansar Allah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, the Yemeni Armed forces gradually increased the level of confrontation to mirror the level of aggression by the US and UK against Yemen while maintaining constant the support for the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian cause.

Cooper addressed the insistence of Yemen on protecting its sovereignty by saying that the Yemeni Armed Forces have been able to carry out these attacks due to support they received from Iran, noting that it is "crystal clear" that the YAF would not have been able to protect their sovereignty had Iran not supported Yemen.

"For a decade, the Iranians have been supplying the Houthis. They've been resupplying them. They're resupplying them as we sit here right now, at sea," Cooper told O'Donnell adding "We know this is happening. They're advising them, and they're providing targeting information."

US and UK will not stop Yemeni support for Palestine

Yemeni leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi said, last Thursday, regarding the US-British aggression on Yemen, that Yemen's enemies (the US and the UK) acknowledge the impact of the Yemeni front in supporting Gaza against the Israeli occupation and its economy.

The operations carried out by the Yemeni armed forces at sea have had an effect in preventing the movement of ships associated with the Israeli occupation, almost bringing maritime trade to a standstill. He also noted the continued rise in prices in Israeli markets as a result.

The Israeli enemy has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of maritime trade in the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait, the Ansar Allah leader said. The operations of the Yemeni armed forces at sea have led to a strategic shift in the region's status quo, severely impacting US and British influence.

He stressed that the status quo that allowed the United States to threaten regional parties without accountability was broken.

According to the Israeli enemy's acknowledgment, he added, the Yemeni Armed Forces' operations led to a near-complete shutdown of the Um al-Rashrash port, and all the food supplies for the Israeli occupation through the Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb was cut by 70%.

Regarding the airstrikes carried out by the United States and Britain on Yemen, al-Houthi said there were 40 airstrikes launched on Yemen this past week, "and they did not achieve their goal. The only solution is to stop the aggression on Gaza."

"We have confirmed to European countries that they are not the target of operations in the Red Sea and that the US and British military failed to protect ships associated with the Israeli enemy," he asserted.