During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) spoke to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines about support for Israel and the threat of the Houthis on commercial shipping.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Both, I want to just acknowledge some amazing work that the U.S. military has done in two
00:05 very challenging contexts recently.
00:08 The U.S. effort to support Israel together with other nations during the attack from
00:14 Iran was truly a superb operation, and I don't think that kind of thing happens by accident
00:20 or by chance.
00:22 It demonstrates an awful lot of training, an awful lot of capacity, an awful lot of
00:26 cooperation.
00:27 And had we not been successful in that, the level of escalation that we might have seen
00:33 in the region, the damage to Israeli cities, communities, people, the likely escalation
00:39 thereafter could really have been devastating at a very critical time where the last thing
00:44 we need is escalation in the Middle East.
00:46 And so I just, at a hearing like this, I want to acknowledge the great service of U.S. military
00:52 in forming together with Israel and other nations a defense against the Iranian attack.
00:58 And second, the work that the U.S., primarily the Navy but not solely the Navy, has done
01:03 in the Red Sea to repel attacks by Houthis against commercial ships, military ships,
01:08 again in tandem with allies, but most of the work is being the hard work, the kinetic hostile
01:13 fires being taken by U.S. military has been truly remarkable.
01:19 And the remarkable thing, and I know this has got to keep you guys up every night, is
01:23 when we are sitting there in the Red Sea and absorbing incoming over and over and over
01:27 again, we have to have 100 percent success rate.
01:30 It can't be 98, it can't be 99 percent.
01:33 My understanding is we've, it's been 100 percent up to now.
01:36 I don't want to jinx it, and it's been, we've been as close as 3,000 yards from striking
01:44 a U.S. ship that we were able to take down with a Gatling gun, some use of missiles has
01:49 enabled us to take down incoming missiles or drones at further distance, but 3,000 yards
01:54 is pretty close.
01:56 And we've got a lot of Virginians on those ships in the Red Sea, and I know other members
02:01 here have sailors from their states there too.
02:04 So I want to start with that, and that, it takes a lot of work to get to that.
02:09 I mean, the development of the Aegis system, I mean, goes back decades, and good intel,
02:15 and using the intel well, both to defend but also to strike positions in Yemen that could
02:19 do damage, I mean, I just want to express appreciation.
02:23 I do want to focus on the Red Sea, and so let me begin with Director Haynes.
02:28 What is the ICSAS about the Houthis' continuing threat on commercial shipping, and how long
02:35 is that threat likely to remain active?
02:38 Yeah, so our assessment is essentially that it is going to remain active for some time.
02:45 It is in part because Abdu'l-Malik, the leader of the Houthis, continues, we think, to see
02:54 domestic political advantage for some of the actions that he's taking, that he is interested
03:01 in kind of burnishing his regional reputation, and he has seen this to be adding to that
03:08 in many respects.
03:09 And that they continue to indigenously produce a fair amount of UAVs, other weapon systems,
03:18 and so on, and of course are also getting assistance from the Iranians in this respect,
03:23 and that neither of those things are likely to change in the near future.
03:26 Now, that doesn't mean that the strikes that the Department of Defense and the coalition
03:32 with our allies have taken haven't had impact.
03:34 They have, but it's been insufficient to really stop the Houthis from going down this road,
03:40 and so that is sort of our -- What's your assessment about if there were
03:43 to be a ceasefire in Gaza, what's the likelihood that the pace of attacks would significantly
03:49 reduce?
03:50 Yeah, it is honestly unknown at this stage.
03:54 They have indicated that at different times that they would comply with the ceasefire,
03:59 so I think there's a fair possibility that that is what --
04:01 And wasn't there some abatement of the pace of attacks into the Red Sea during the first
04:05 ceasefire?
04:06 Prior -- That's exactly right.
04:07 They did in the prior one.
04:08 But it's just -- One of the things that's been challenging is that their rationale for
04:13 their attacks has shifted over time a bit, and it's gotten more complicated at times.
04:18 He's indicated that they wouldn't stop unless -- And in tolls, humanitarian assistance
04:23 had been delivered to a certain degree, things like that, and so it seems like there are
04:26 additional requirements that he's added, but it doesn't mean that he wouldn't pause during
04:31 the ceasefire.
04:32 And even if the ceasefire might, under past rationale, lead them to stop to the extent
04:36 that they feel like this is burnishing their reputation for being kind of a bad actor,
04:42 they might continue even in a ceasefire condition.
04:45 Yeah, it's possible.
04:46 Last question.
04:47 Why aren't more allies and members of the coalition helping the United States in actually
04:53 taking military action against Houthis who are targeting their ships?
04:57 I mean, we're protecting commercial ships of other nations.
05:00 The number of nations that are participating in the military activity seems small to me.
05:05 How should I understand that?
05:07 Yeah, I mean, I'll start, and General Cruz may have more to add here.
05:10 I think a number of them really are trying to help in any way that they can, and we've
05:15 seen it come in different forms, and I would really defer to the Department of Defense
05:20 in terms of the degree of it, but let me- How about a quick answer since I'm over my
05:23 time, General Cruz?
05:24 Sir, I think I would just add that to the DNI's point.
05:29 Many of them are contributing in other ways, and they're important ways, and while there's
05:34 few that might be doing defense in the Red Sea, specifically, they're doing things that
05:39 we actually count on, and we appreciate the partnership, but would welcome anyone else
05:43 who would want to participate.
05:44 Senator Cotton.