This country is under attack. Now Joe Biden is nowhere to be found.
And US forces suffered devastating attack from the last place they expected.
On Sunday, a US destroyer and three commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, an intense development that American officials described as “fully enabled by Iran.”
“The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners,” the US Central Command warned in a statement of the incident, which ratcheted up maritime tensions in the Middle East during the Israel-Hamas war.
The USS Carney, which had previously shot down missiles and drones aimed at it while escorting a commercial vessel through the war-torn region, was targeted along with at least three commercial ships beginning around 10 a.m. local time in a five-hour assault, according to the Pentagon and an unnamed US official.
The missiles struck three commercial vessels, but it did not appear that the American cruiser was harmed.
“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The source of the military fire was not identified by US officials. The Carney was only reported to have shot down at least three drones on Sunday.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have threatened to strike ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, later admitted targeting two Israeli commercial ships on Sunday but did not identify the US Navy vessel.
According to US Central Command, there is “every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.”
The rebel group said it had targeted two commercial ships, the Unity Explorer and Number Nine, since they had ignored warnings to leave the area.
According to US sources, the USS Carney received a distress call from the Explorer after the vessel was fired upon by a ballistic missile.
At least one commercial vessel was reported to have been hit on Sunday, a ship owned by Danny Ungar, the son of Israeli shipping mogul Rami Ungar.
According to Fox News, the US Navy destroyer already clashed with the rebel group on Wednesday when it shot down a drone launched from Yemen.
The Carney was cruising near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait when it was attacked last week, but neither the ship nor her crew were injured.
Prior to this week’s strike, the USS Carney had shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles launched from Yemen in the Red Sea.
The recent strikes by the rebel group have been criticized by the US Central Command as “a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”
“They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world,” US Central Command said in a statement.
The attack on the warship and other commercial ships operating in the Red Sea occurred on the same day that the British military reported a suspected drone strike and explosion in the region.
According to the Pentagon, Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles near the USS Mason last week while the destroyer reacted to a distress call from a commercial tanker, the Central Park, which was being assaulted by Somali pirates.
Gunmen entered Central Park and fled when the Mason came. The Mason pursued the attackers all the way to Yemen’s coast.
The missiles were fired near the Mason by Houthi rebels, with the explosives missing the ship and landing in the Gulf of Aden.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
