Beege has a piece about the utter failure of the Biden Administration to deal with the Houthis essentially shutting down shipping in the Red Sea.

The level of incompetence displayed by the Biden Administration is almost beyond parody. It’s like our entire executive branch of government has created a script by cribbing from Veep and 1984.

US troops are being attacked, international shipping is being squeezed, and the Iranians keep escalating their proxy war against Israel and the United States.

The administration’s response? Aside from shipping boatloads of cash to the Iranian regime, our Secretary of State has revealed that he is begging Iran to please stop, or else we might be mildly upset.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has "repeatedly tried to make clear to Iran" that their support for the Houthis "needs to stop."

(Biden has unlocked tens of billions of dollars for Iran regime AND he de-listed the Houthis as a terrorist organization in 2021) pic.twitter.com/9N58gBdXFG

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 10, 2024

It is, as I said, beyond parody.

The crisis in the Red Sea is no joke. Shipping delays are stretching out to weeks, with a decent percentage of the world’s goods usually traversing the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Shipping prices on some routes have doubled to quadrupled.

The Red Sea is one of the main trade routes between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, with Clarksons estimating that 10 percent of world trade by volume utilizes this route. This includes 20 percent of all container shipping, nearly 10 percent of seaborne oil, and 8 percent of LNG.

The Houthis are escalating their attacks, directed at both private shipping and Western military vessels. So far, the successful strikes have been all on commercial shipping, but we are playing Russian roulette with our naval forces, and for every $2000 drone we shoot down, we are spending millions for the missiles required to do so.

Yemeni Houthis launched a massive missile and drone strike on a US Navy ship in the Red Sea

The UK and US navies shot down more than 20 drones and missiles fired from Yemen along maritime trade routes. pic.twitter.com/uKlfoqXOXA

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 10, 2024

The exchange rate in cost is at least 10 to 1 in favor of the Houthis–really the Iranians. And the US keeps threatening, and then the US keeps threatening again. We haven’t even struck the Houthis, who launch missiles and drones.

The policy is insane and exists only because the United States wants to be friends with a country whose motto is “Death to America” and describes us as “The Great Satan.”

Friendship seems unlikely. Instead Iran is identifying the targets and guiding the attacks.

The Behshad is the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps intelligence platform that is providing targeting information to the Houthis that mentioned in the recent @WSJ article. The fact that it still floats shows just how unserious the U.S. and allies are. https://t.co/N4m0dm2vaK

— Bill Roggio (@billroggio) January 10, 2024

The Houthis rule the poorest country in the world. The only reason they have these weapons is that Iran supplies them, and is committed to keep on supplying them. Time and again–and in places far removed from the Red Sea–the Iranians attack the United States and our allies, and we politely ask them to stop.

They will never stop. Why would they? The US refuses to return the favor.

The #Houthis and #Iran apparently didn’t think very much about Prez #Biden’s “Final Warning” issued on January 3. https://t.co/6ySJhtx2MJ

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) January 10, 2024

The United States doesn’t look weak; we look pathetic. We look pathetic because this administration is pathetic. Warnings only matter when you mean them, and this administration doesn’t. The Houthis–and reall, the Iranians–keep committing acts of war and the United States keeps warning it will do something about it.

Everybody now knows they didn’t mean it. Instead, we are wasting expensive–and, more importantly, scarce–missiles to take down cheap and easily replaced missiles and drones.

⚡️BREAKING

Houthis overwhelmed US air defences in the Red Sea

The British ship HMS Diamond had to intervene to deal with the Houthis' barrage of missiles and drones.

It seems that the American warships SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) are depleted pic.twitter.com/k6TVLYPlAC

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) January 10, 2024

Meanwhile, our military chain of command is a bad joke, with the Secretary of Defense disappearing for days and nobody in the Administration knowing about it- or caring- during a legitimate military crisis.

Lloyd Austin? Who?

"The Houthis have taken more than 25 hostages from the ships that they've seized"

Source: SkyNews pic.twitter.com/tASYfvtnT4

— WORLD AT WAR (@World_At_War_6) January 10, 2024

The Houthis–and remember, this really means Iran–attacked a US warship directly and almost hit it. No more pretending that this is anything but a war against our country. Yet, so far, all we do is talk. The biggest task of the US Navy is to defend freedom of navigation and we do nothing.

The Department of Defense is apparently nothing but a jobs program for DEI trainers and an institution dedicated to funding abortions and sex change operations.

🇮🇱🇵🇸🇷🇺Geo Pol War Bulletin for 1/10 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇪🇺

🔻The Houthis have confirmed that they attacked a US warship in the Red Sea. Photos show the D34 Diamond destroyer of UK came to the assistance of US warships. Apparently the US defense systems were overrun by 7 UAVs from the Houthis.… pic.twitter.com/sf3LqasdD9

— ThePlotSickens (@pl0t_sickens) January 10, 2024

Crap like this didn’t happen during Trump’s administration. Say what you will about his being a blowhard; when he needed to, he made clear that he would blow things up without getting sucked into a drawn-out war.

None of us wants to get dragged into a war–and the best way to accomplish that goal is through deterrence. And deterrence requires follow-through.

Is it possible, even likely, that the US will eventually make at least modest strikes in Yemen? I think so because our allies in Europe, Asia, and the region will pressure us into doing something. But we have let this situation fester for months, all while appeasing Iran. They have gotten the message that they can get away with attacking us, and they will continue to do so.

Until Iran pays a high price for their aggression, it will continue. My guess it will do so at least until Biden leaves the stage.