For the first time in four decades, a core US interest freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce is increasingly at risk in the Middle East region. By enabling the Yemeni Houthis to attack international vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with armed drones and sophisticated anti-ship missiles, Iran, as it did in the Gulf in the late 1980s, is causing tremendous harm to commercial activity in one of the world’s most crucial waterways.
A Marine Corps general compiled a secret assessment warning a seismic shift to better prepare the Corps for a role in a Pacific fight could undercut the service.