Somebody at Houthi central command has a great sense of humor or has been chewing a lot of khat.

I vote for the latter, but perhaps I underestimate our friends who own the Red Sea at the moment.

The logo on the plane reads: "God Is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam". The Houthi motto. @JoeBiden delisted the Houthis as a terrorist group within days of taking office. Be sure to thank him and @TheDemocrats for their foreign policy https://t.co/ooNaeKtlMH

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) December 19, 2023

Jazz has written multiple times about the current state of affairs in the Red Sea and the feckless “strategy” the Biden Administration is pursuing. As things stand, the Yemeni Houthis are holding all shipping in the Red Sea hostage, forcing ships to travel the Horn of Africa rather than take a straight shot through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.

It adds a ton of miles and time to any trip, not to mention costing real money.

The latest idea to deal with the threat is a multinational naval force to patrol the waters. Unfortunately, that plan has the serious flaw of requiring our military to swat down missiles and drones rather than stop their deployment in the first place. While ships might not be sitting ducks, expecting defensive weapons to be 100% effective is a pretty bad and expensive bet.

The Houthis wouldn’t present any threat at all to anybody off the coast of Yemen but for the support of Iran, and as we keep getting reminded, Joe Biden has a remarkably stupid strategy of trying to become Iran’s friend.

Top Biden spokesman John Kirby: "The Houthis may be pulling the trigger, but as I said, Iran's giving them the guns!"

REMINDER: Biden has enriched the Iranian regime with tens of billions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/ueTXF7hhxn

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 19, 2023

Biden was so desperate to do so that he lifted the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group–something they manifestly are. It was one among many olive branches Biden extended to Iran, and as with all those olive branches, it was tossed onto a bonfire built of American flags that Islamists had trampled.

Iran is one of the most evil regimes in the world, and Biden keeps trying to become their buddies. The regime whose motto is “Death to America” and who labels us the Great Satan is hardly likely to reverse course and become a force for stability in the world. Ask the Israelis how friendly Iran’s proxies are. Hamas trains with and takes orders from the Iranians.

Top Biden spokesman John Kirby says the Biden administration is considering re-designating the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.

REMINDER: It was Biden who LIFTED the terrorist designation on the Houthis back in 2021. pic.twitter.com/wrlpXKxj4o

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 19, 2023

The Houthis can push their “Top Gun” propaganda because they are confident that Biden is a weakling who can’t resist massaging the Mullahs’ feet. In this they may eventually prove to be wrong, but there is so far no evidence that this is a bad bet on their part. If they can appear to force the Great Satan to back down, their prestige will skyrocket.

They will become heroes if they get a lucky hit on a warship.

The smart move is to blockade Yemen and strike at anything that looks remotely troublesome. As the war in Ukraine has shown, even cheap weapons can be deadly effective.

🇾🇪🇺🇸‼️🚨 NO FEAR: “They’ve tried us for 9 years, if they want to do it again, we are here and ready.

If America and Israel attack us, they’ll commit foolishness they’ve never committed before.

The response will be fierce.”

— Yahya Saree, spokesman of Yemen’s Houthis Armed… pic.twitter.com/awaNA7xOsP

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 19, 2023

The United States has proven remarkably ineffective at nation-building, but our military is also effective at killing people and breaking things.

This seems a case where doing so might accomplish some good. It’s certainly better than just waiting for a lucky hit on a Western warship.