Houthis Release Hostages: Is This What 'De-escalation' Looks Like?
The Houthis, we're told, sunk a ship in July and now, in an act of magnanimity, are releasing its crew. This follows reports from the US and UK about their 'precision strikes' meant to 'restore stability' to the Red Sea—a stability apparently requiring 42 attacks on Yemen in January alone, including civilian infrastructure. Funny how only one side's actions get framed as hostile while the other's
are always 'defensive.' One might wonder if the U.S. and U.K. will offer similar 'goodwill gestures' after their latest bombings that killed at least five and wounded six . Or will their humanitarian concern only extend to those they've painted as villains? After all, when Rep. Mike Waltz praises these attacks because 'we have to show force' (Fox News, Feb 14), it's clear whose 'humanitarian
crisis' matters. Yemen, which has endured its own brutal war for years thanks partly to western arms, seems to exist only when it's disrupting shipping lanes.