Subject: Re: WHY does Israel have to wait for
The missiles get to the Houthis because we also have ships in the region. International waters, and all that. We're allowed to be there, just like the Iranians are allowed to have ships there.

...and our ships could interdict the missile shipments.

We do small nibbles because we aren't willing to devote the resources to a CHOMP. And this is Just The Tip. Just keep on prolonging the problem instead of solving it.

And remote attacks are very expensive. We could keep responding with missiles, but a pretty painful exchange:

You're making my point for me - I said this earlier. It's very expensive for us to keep shooting precision anti-air ordinance at cheap drones and their missiles. It's far more cost-effective to drop a bunch of dumb glide bombs onto their launch sites.

We're not Superman. We're not invulnerable, and there are all sorts of costs to taking military action, and all sorts of limitations on what can be achieved through military force.

At some point Harris has to make a choice: leave our ships out there, allow the Houthis to keep threatening the sea lanes, and hope they never get lucky. Or actually...do something. You guys keep making this a binary choice between World War 3 and Just The Tip, but there are more options than that.

Which is why the Iranians aren't messing with the US Navy. They're being very careful to use proxies in the region - and even those proxies are targeting commercial vessels.

Huh? No, my man:
https://www.navytimes.com/news...

The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II, its leaders and experts told The Associated Press.

BTW the Navy's ability to remain at sea and fight for extended periods is being put to the test.

The pace of the fire can be seen on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, where the paint around the hatches of its missile pods has been burned away from repeated launches. Its sailors sometimes have seconds to confirm a launch by the Houthis, confer with other ships and open fire on an incoming missile barrage that can move near or beyond the speed of sound.

“It is every single day, every single watch, and some of our ships have been out here for seven-plus months doing that,” said Capt. David Wroe, the commodore overseeing the guided missile destroyers.

7 months of Just the Tip. Here's the effect on morale:
Officers acknowledge some grumbling among their crew, wondering why the Navy doesn’t strike harder against the Houthis. The White House hasn’t discussed the Houthi campaign at the same level as negotiations over the Israel-Hamas war.