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U.S. Launches Effort to Stop Russia from Arming Houthis with Antiship Missiles
(Wall Street Journal) Michael R. Gordon - U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Russia might arm Houthi militants in Yemen with advanced antiship missiles in retaliation for the Biden administration's support for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons. The White House has launched a confidential push to try to stop Moscow from delivering the missiles to the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea for eight months. Meanwhile, Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, recently advised in a classified letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that military operations in the region are "failing" to deter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and that a broader approach is needed, according to U.S. officials. "If you tell the military to re-establish freedom of navigation and then you tell them to only be defensive, it isn't going to work," said one U.S. official. "It is all about protecting ships without affecting the root cause."