The U.S. and U.K. strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen were nearly twice as large as previously disclosed, hitting a total of just under 30 different locations, a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed Friday.
Air Force Central Command had said Thursday that American forces hit more than 60 targets at 16 locations controlled by the Iranian-backed militants. But speaking with reporters Friday, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staff's director for operations, said that immediately following those initial strikes, there were 12 other locations identified and struck…
The strikes were retaliation for a series of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that have menanced international shipping since October, destabilizing the global economy and putting in harm's way U.S. Navy ships that are patrolling the shipping corridor.
The Navy's aircraft carrier in the region, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, launched 22 fixed-wing aircraft for the strike, a U.S. official revealed to Military.com on Friday…
The cruiser USS Philippine Sea and destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason also participated in the strike, the U.S. official added. Military.com has also learned that the guided missile submarine USS Florida was part of the strike.
Sims told reporters that "there were just over 150 various munitions used" -- a figure that included both the bombs dropped by aircraft as well as Tomahawk land attack missiles launched from Navy ships -- against multiple targets at each of the 28 target locations.
Most Democrats supported the strikes, echoing the Biden administration's description of the military action as "necessary and proportional."
"These strikes, in concert with weeks of diplomacy, send a clear signal that the United States will continue to take appropriate action to protect our personnel, our interests, and freedom of navigation for vital international waterways," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement.
But progressive Democrats, as well as some anti-interventionist Republicans, bristled at the fact that Biden struck the Houthis without seeking congressional approval.
While the administration notified Congress ahead of the strikes, it didn't ask lawmakers to pass an authorization for the use of military force. The U.S. and other countries that supported the strikes cited "the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense, consistent with the U.N. Charter," as the legal basis for the military action.