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Originally Posted by Crossnerd
The largest and wealthiest navy in the world being bested by penniless glorified pirates with cheap weaponry is remarkable. Just not in the way you interpreted it.
Well, cheap is relative. They are firing mobile missile systems that can travel 800 km over open water. Obviously it is not very accurate, which is why they haven't done much actual damage, but the threat is clearly enough to damage world trade. And if this continues indefinitely they will eventually get a lucky hit and do some major damage.
And they are a guerrilla force which can easily blend into the local population, which supports them. I am not sure there is much the US can do, given our current strategy to minimize collateral damage. Obviously we could easily destroy all the infrastructure in Western Yemen and probably millions of people will die of thirst and hunger (they are already on the edge of this happening as it is) and that would probably stop them firing missiles. But it seems the powers that be would rather just pay more money to not use the Red Sea anymore than do anything that would actually work.
Ironically, this will hurt Egypt the most, as levies from ships going through the canal is a very important part of their economy.