Stavridis, who served under President Barack Obama when Biden was Vice President, expressed his concerns amid the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict and Iran's recent air assault on Israel.
Stavridis, a 69-year-old former naval officer, voiced his criticism during an interview with John Catsimatidis, host of WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable”. He stated, "We have been too timid in our approach and striking back at the Houthis. They are proxies. They are creatures of Iran. We are trying to be very calibrated in our approach, and it’s not working."
The Houthis, according to Stavridis, continue to pose a significant threat to US warships and merchant traffic. He warned, "Sooner or later, one of those ballistic missiles is going to get through, and you’re going to see dozens of American sailors killed, or big merchant ship sunk and environmental disaster or blocking the Suez Canal approaches."
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Despite the US striking hundreds of Houthi targets during a prolonged campaign earlier this year, the terror group remains undeterred. Just last month, they killed three crew members of a Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged bulk carrier and pledged to intensify attacks during Ramadan.
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On April 3, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who heads US Air Forces Central, claimed that the American attacks on the militia group have "certainly affected their behavior. Their pace of operations is not what it was." However, Stavridis insists that the US response to date is insufficient.
"We need to increase the offensive work we’re doing against the Houthis," he said. "We’re going to probably have to start thinking about going after Iranian maritime targets to send them a signal to stop supplying these Houthi rebels. We have been too timid thus far in our approach against these pirates. And that’s what they are. Every nation has an interest in this stopped."
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The Houthi rebels seized large areas of Yemen in 2014, igniting a civil war. Their current offensives are aimed at supporting Palestinians during the Israel war after Oct. 7 while generally trying to expand their influence and popularity in the region.
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Their ally, Iran, retaliated for an earlier deadly assault on Iranian officials in Syria by launching a fierce air attack on Israel over the weekend. However, nearly all of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted by Israel in the air.