Hey – wasn’t Iran supposed to be America’s new bestie now? That was pretty much the mantra from the White House, while President Obama was pressing forward with a nuclear treaty with Tehran and telling the rest of the world, which was cautioning to go easy on the nuke concessions: It’s OK, Iran likes us now.
So why are Iranian-backed Houthi rebels firing at one of the U.S. Navy’s destroyers, sailing off the coast of Yemen?
It’s a puzzler, all right.
From Fox News:
“Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fired two missiles at a U.S. Navy destroyer operating off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea on Sunday — though neither missile hit the ship, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“Though the American warship wasn’t struck, the ship was definitely targeted, a U.S. defense official told Fox News. This dramatic escalation comes a week after the U.S. Navy sent warships to the area when a United Arab Emirates flagged auxiliary ship was destroyed off the coast of Yemen by the Houthis.”
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis issued a rather bland statement, assuring concerned citizens of the United States: Nothing to see here, go home.
As Fox noted, he said:
“We assess the missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said. “The United States remains committed to ensuring freedom of navigation everywhere in the world, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our servicemembers.”
But what’s not part of the statement is just how close the missile came to striking the USS Mason.
Apparently, it was close enough that the ship had to take defensive maneuvers.
Fox went on:
“‘In the first instance USS Mason employed onboard defensive measures, although it is unclear whether this led to the missile striking the water or whether it would have struck the water anyway,’ a defense official told Fox News.
“The official said the American ship was in international waters when the missiles were fired, but didn’t provide an exact location.
“‘Beyond that, the incident is under investigation, and we hope to have more details for you in the coming days,’ the official said. ‘We take this very seriously. We will protect our people.’
“U.S. officials have long accused Iran of supplying missiles and other weapons to the Houthis.”
Obama? Any word from the White House?
In other administrations, such attacks on U.S. properties might have been considered acts of war – and America would have responded accordingly.