Russia Vs. The Houthis?

Which do you think is a more pressing national interest concern for the US right now. Supplying Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars to defend against Russia near the Black Sea?
Or attacking the Houthis in Yemen who have stopped the important Red Sea/Suez Canal to international shipping?

A little history here. President Trump supported our ally Saudi Arabia as it was trying to stamp out the Iranian supported Houthis in Yemen. President Trump declared them terrorists. Early on, President Biden revoked the terrorism designation. Iran got this concession as a part of negotiations with Team Biden on a new treaty. Iran did eventually get billions released to them, might have been used by Hamas to attack innocents in Israel.

It’s hard for me to decide where the Biden administration has done the most damage… at home or around the world. I actually think his foreign policy blunders will be the worst when history plays out. Ukraine is a lost cause at this point so I think it’s more import to focus on mitigating the damage already done in the ME. There has never been a better time for our enemies to advance what power they have.

There was some legitimacy when President Trump declared Houthis to be terrorists and then bombed them. As you pointed out Slo Joe removed the terrorist designation and then bombed them. What is the logic in this position.
The U.S. is involved only because of oil, plain and simple. There is no human rights concern. We have no compelling interest in the Red Sea conflict. God forbid that a Houthi rocket takes down one of our jets. What will the administration do? Put boots on the ground in Yemen? Carpet bomb as we did in Vietnam?
There is no issue with going around the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) other than it will cost more and that cost will be passed on to the European consumers. Recall that in March 2021 the canal was closed by a ship that ran aground.
The Houthis are not Barbary pirates. They acted to support the Palestinians. The fact that they shoot rockets in order to disrupt shipping to Israel is no different than the U.S. providing the 2000 lb bombs that are dropped on Gaza. With U.S. munitions the Israelis have killed 21,000+

To answer your question, Fred, in my mind we should not be involved in either conflict. We have no compelling interest. Supporting our Military-Industrial complex is not a compelling interest.

I should point out that the Slo Joe and his administration refer to this bombing as being done by the U.S. and its allies. In fact, the only other country involved is Great Britain and it is only a token at best.
Just another bit of "disinformation" from the swamp.

The Houthis closing the Suez Canal is absolutely a major concern for both the US and the world economy.

No question that it is a concern. However it is a concern only to those who are financially vested in keeping Suez transit open, Europe and Israel.
U.S. involvement is in keeping with concept that we are the world's policeman and piggy bank. I do not subscribe to this idea. Do not equate "world economy" with European economy. The rest of the world motors on and will not go into depression with the closure of this waterway. Spend some time researching BRICS. It is close to 50% of the world's GDP. The era of Western hegemony is in a downward spiral.

To Rick's point, of Slo Joe doing the most damage, unfortunately because of his domestic policies, eg. strangling the oil industry, domestic policy has ramifications that hurt our international position. Hard to separate them.

After years of military budget cuts in NATO, the US has to be involved in any actions like this because Europe doesn't have the capability anymore. The Royal Navy, once the largest in the world spent years without a single aircraft carrier.

Right on Fred. The European nations did not come anywhere near their appropriate contribution. They knew that Uncle Sam would pick up the short fall. When President Trump pressured them to pay up they
screamed to the high heaven.
Interesting, the British army has fewer soldiers than it had during the Revolutionary War. As with virtually war it was fought because of trade. Similar to where Slo Joe is going to take us in the Middle East.

[quote="ramage" post=401536]No question that it is a concern. However it is a concern only to those who are financially vested in keeping Suez transit open, Europe and Israel.
U.S. involvement is in keeping with concept that we are the world's policeman and piggy bank. I do not subscribe to this idea. Do not equate "world economy" with European economy. The rest of the world motors on and will not go into depression with the closure of this waterway. Spend some time researching BRICS. It is close to 50% of the world's GDP. The era of Western hegemony is in a downward spiral.

To Rick's point, of Slo Joe doing the most damage, unfortunately because of his domestic policies, eg. strangling the oil industry, domestic policy has ramifications that hurt our international position. Hard to separate them.[/quote]

THE MACRO IS THIS.......U R WRONG