Over the weekend, President Donald Trump launched decisive and powerful military action against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.
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The Houthi’s slogan is:
“Allah is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
(by Deirdre Bardolf, NY Post) – President Trump unleashed “hell” on Iranian-backed Houthis on Saturday, striking dozens of targets in Yemen in response to the terror group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The strikes were carried out by the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser at targets in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital city, according to reports.
US Central Command posted a video to X of a series of fighter jets taking off from an aircraft carrier as it announced the strikes. (A further post on March 17 on X.com/CENTCOM.)
Radars, air defenses and missile and drone systems Houthis had been using to disrupt shipping lanes in the Red Sea were among the targets, The New York Times reported.
Trump also took aim at former President Biden in his post, saying his response to the group, which has attacked American warships in the Red Sea “dozens of times” in recent months, was “pathetically weak.”
“It has been over a year since a U.S. flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden,” Trump said.
The Biden administration carried out strikes along with the UK last year in response to Houthis attacking merchant ships and military vessels but failed to bring stability to the region.
The Houthis have targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, since the war between Israel and Hamas began [due to Hamas terrorists barbarically massacring over 1,000 people in Israel and kidnapping 251 people into Gaza].
Earlier this week, the Houthis said “any Israeli vessel” traveling through nearby waterways would be “subject to military targeting” in response to Israel cutting off aid to Gaza [which Israel has done in an attempt to get their hostages who are being abused and starved in Gaza to be released].
No direct threat was made to the US, but the Navy responded it would “do what is necessary to protect and defend U.S. personnel assets and partners.”
[A U.S. official told Reuters that the strikes could continue for weeks, depending on the Houthi response.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the campaign would continue until the Houthis relent.
“We will come after the Houthis until they stop shooting at our ships, and the Iranians better stay out of it,” Secretary Hegseth told Fox News after the strikes.
The strikes came after Trump re-designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in January, a decision he made during his first term, but which was reversed by former U.S. President Joe Biden.] and two weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iranian leaders urging talks on Iran’s advancing nuclear weapons program, which Trump has said he will not allow to become operational.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the letter “unwise” and a “threat,” according to reports.
Published at NYPost .com on March 15 with Post Wires and at TruthSocial/@realDonaldTrump. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
NOTE: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” and watch the videos under “Resources” below the questions.
ALSO NOTE:
The Houthis are widely considered part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” an informal alliance of Iran-backed terrorist groups alongside Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran has provided them with weapons, training, and technology — such as drones and ballistic missiles — though both deny direct command-and-control ties.
The principle of freedom of navigation, enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), states that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states when in international waters, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law.
1. Why did President Trump order U.S. military attacks on Houthi terrorist targets in Yemen?
2. What were the targets of U.S. military attacks?
3. a) When was the last time a U.S. flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden?
b) What must commercial ships do to avoid the areas targeted by Houthi terrorists?
c) What effect do you think this has on the economy? Explain your answer.
4. For how long will the campaign against the Houthis in Yemen last, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio?
5. In his March 15 post on TruthSocial (found under “Background”), how does President Trump describe the effect Houthi attacks have had on shipping and the economy?
6. Re-read President Trump’s March 15 and March 17 posts under “Background.” Watch the CENTCOM video clips linked to in the article. a) How successful do you think our military will be in destroying the Houthis military equipment and preventing further attacks on all commercial/military shipping in the future? Explain your answer.
b) Ask a parent the same question.
Background
On March 15, 2025 President Trump posted on TruthSocial:
On March 17, in a follow-up, President Trump wrote on TruthSocial:
Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN.
Any further attack or retaliation by the “Houthis” will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.
Iran has played “the innocent victim” of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control. They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, “Intelligence.”
Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!
DONALD J. TRUMP,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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