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Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

They've held out for years against the most notoriously incompetent militaries in the world. After what happened with the Ukraine and Russia, who knows what's going to happen here, but the Houthi track record is a little built up.

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The Saudis are indeed incompetent (and mostly hired mercenaries to do the actual ground fighting anyway, surprise surprise they were not too eager to actually risk their lives for MBS). The UAE armed forces, on the other hand, are quite effective.

The Saudi-Led Coalition broke apart over disharmony between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which was apparently one of the turning points in the Saudi war against Ansar Allah, so that checks out.

Now the Houthis are facing a competent military, that is so infused with progressive moralism that it can't use any of its competencies, and is very careful not to kill any Houthis.

Unless this paradigm breaks very soon, Houthis seem favored to win. Pretty easy to win against a military which bogus morality won't let it harm you, its enemy.

Win? With what, missiles that can only damage merchant ships?

They can win just as so many others have in the past - outlasting the resolve of the U.S. I think that the best that can be hoped for here (from the U.S. perspective) is to diminish the Houthi's capacity to launch missiles and drones until Israel has finished whatever it is they are trying to accomplish in Gaza.

I don't think they will be able to sate their anger because the killing amplifies it.

Civilian ships can be surprisingly resilient. Many oil tankers survived hits from the same missiles that crippled the USS Stark.

Yes, they're already crippling international shipping: https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-yemen-houthis-attack-ship...

It can, it just hasn't done so yet. But it definitely can. A threat to international shipping is one of those things that just might bring it into play.

The threat has already been realized. Ships are already being rerouted en-masse due to Houthi attacks: https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-yemen-houthis-attack-ship...

We all know the US military can defeat the Houthis. But so far it hasn't used its capabilities. It warned and threatened endlessly, while the Houthis continued their campaign of naval terror.

Yes, it has, but not to a degree that the sleeping giants have decided it's time to wake up and act. The thing the US hopes for is that the Houtis will see reason, if they don't they can expect to be wiped out. Give it some time, these operations aren't planned on the spur of the moment. You can bet your ass that right now somewhere in the pentagon a set of rooms is dedicated to dealing with this. And until it happens it will seem as though nothing is going to happen.

> Pretty easy to win against a military which bogus morality won't let it harm you, its enemy.

Have you ever served in uniform yourself? Or do you just confidently proclaim barstool opinions based on what you've read here and there?

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