House Intel Chairman Rips Biden’s ‘Timid’ Response To Iran

 House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said the Biden administration has been “very timid” in its response to Iran‘s escalation of hostilities in the Middle East region.

The congressman, who has access to some of the most sensitive national security secrets of the United States, said during a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that it was “significant” that President Joe Biden’s team “continues to not respond to the Houthi escalation in the area.”

Turner was responding to how Iranian-backed Houthi boats attacked yet another merchant ship in the Red Sea over the weekend, which prompted a U.S. Navy response that destroyed the aggressors.

“This really, though, is the – is the Iran issue. I mean the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas are all, you know, satellites funded, trained by Iran itself. This administration has been very timid in responding to escalation by Iran,” Turner said.

 

“And in order to be able to address this, they’re going to have to look at operations into Yemen where the capabilities are resonant, where Iran continues to reload them as they attack commercial shipping areas and put at risk U.S. military,” he added.

Houthi rebels have reportedly warned ships not to head toward Israel in what their group claims is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel fights Hamas in the Gaza Strip following a deadly Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli soil in early October.

Citing an “escalation” in Houthi attacks coming from Yemen in recent weeks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in mid-December the start of the multi-national Operation Prosperity Guardian meant to protect ships in the Red Sea.

Despite the effort, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the top commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, told the Associated Press ten days later, “We are cleareyed that the Houthi reckless attacks will likely continue.”

The interviewer in the ABC interview on Sunday, Jonathan Karl, asked Turner whether he believes Biden should order attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen.

“I think the president absolutely has to look at what actions need to be taken in Yemen to be able to prevent the Houthis to continue to put commercial and military vessels at risk,” Turner said. “The fact that the president’s not doing that is giving Iran a total pass, an ability to operate without consequences in the area.”