Retaliatory us Le air strikes in Yemen targeted more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian back houthi Rebels yesterday President Biden says he will not hesitate to quote direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international Commerce joining us now for more on this is CBS News contributor Sam vinegrad she's the.
Former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security she was also involved in situation room discussions in the aftermath of the attack on Israel on October 7th uh Sam it's great to see you welcome to CBS News um what in your view is the purpose of these strikes uh and and why is the.
President choosing New Order the strikes now I know that uh the United States had given several warnings to the houthi rebels in Yemen uh but why at this precise moment was this order given Vlad good morning the administration and our allies sought to avoid these strikes at all cost having been in discussions with members of the administration since.
Since October 7th I can tell you that officials did not want to have to escalate from a military perspective the problem is the houthis left the administration and our allies no choice and that's why since the houthis began this escalatory Behavior the administration and our allies took a series of steps to avoid having to get.
To this moment uh we issued a series of Maritime advisories uh to Commercial and other vessels there were sanctions issued there was a un Security Council resolution there were series of non-kinetic deterrent moves made by the Department of Defense and unfortunately the houthis failed to respond and continued their destructive Behavior.
Likely at Iran's behest because of that the administration and the rest of the Coalition that they brought together had to take these defensive strikes these strikes are defensive in nature and at this point what we're waiting to see is how the houthis respond uh I know that a couple shipping companies have chosen to avoid the Red Sea but clearly there are.
Others who who are still there um can you talk a little bit more about just how disruptive these houthi attacks have been to the shipping industry the houthi attacks against commercial vess vessels in the Red Sea where 15% of Seaborn uh Commerce occurs as the president noted in his statement are already having a significant commercial impact major.
Shipping companies have announced that they are circumventing the Red Sea to take much longer routes that is having an impact on key Commodities that typically Transit the Red Sea like grain and energy shipping and insurance costs have already gone up as a result of the houth destructive behavior and unless a hou's changed course we should continue.
To see those impacts at the same time ant Marie the security implications of the houthi attacks are already being felt uh as Iran has escalated Its Behavior our embassies and consulates and military bases in the region are on a heightened state of alert and we had been thinking prior to my departure on December 1st and uh pursuant to.
Conversations I had with the white house last night this is ongoing thinking about how to protect our embassies consulates and bases overseas while also thinking about potential retaliation by Iran and its proxies for the defensive strikes last night here in the Homeland you know Sam I I interviewed the uh Pentagon spokesperson this morning and.
You know the one question that we had was how do we know or how should Americans feel about these actions uh is this the first shot in a wider war in the Middle East another war in the Middle East obviously the Pentagon is not going to divulge secrets on National Television but as an analyst for people who are watching this at home and are.
Wondering as the actions uh in Gaza start to have a wider impact in the region and the United States and the United States takes a more active role in the region could this turn into something that is another war that engulfs not just the United States but the Allies like Britain well from my time in the.
Administration blood I can tell you that the president had no desire to see the situation escalate and as of last night uh it was reaffirmed in my conversations that these are defensive strikes and that the administration does not want to see a further escalation the key factor here is what Iran decides to to do whether Iran uh views these strikes as.
Purely defensive in nature and realizes that it has no choice but to stop activating its proxies in the region that's a decision for Iran and I would imagine that prior to the president uh approving these strikes on Tuesday from what I'm told he reviewed Intelligence on Iran's uh what Iran's perceptions of these strikes might be and how they.
Would react and then made a decision based on the trade-off between inaction and uh the uh potential Iranian response and what the best course of action is but I will note Vlad we should not just be looking to uh potential escalation in the Middle East we also have to be thinking about uh potential security implications here in the Homeland if.
Iran and its Pro proxies seek to activate individuals uh seeking to travel here to the United States or elsewhere around the globe and that's why uh intelligence and information sharing between law enforcement professionals is going to be key and ongoing conversations between the president and his intelligence Community.
Are happening as we speak uh Sam vinograd has been uh great talking to you thank you very much thank you
I am so tired of the historically clueless and legally ignorant. First this is defensive. Houthis are behaving worship the Barbary Pirates in Tripoli and impacting switch. Like Iran within the 1980's and impacting switch. Ships are getting broken, private property and switch considerations are being broken. The originate substances of the missiles and drones were hit, this could be a centered action and now not any model of brutal and general unilateral aggression. If if it became as soon as that model of brutal and general aggression, total villages and sections of cities be gone. A carrier strike community is completely able to creating something else Houthi match the areas of Gaza that Israel has rototilled, or what Russia has been doing to the final population and cities and villages in Ukraine.As for the President giving permission, he is successfully inner the limit offered again in Vietnam with the Warfare Powers act. It has been changed, but a rule of thumb is most efficient described as troops going into a country in a sustained excessive intensity warfare would require Congress striking it to the build a question to. A pair of airstrikes going for a whereas, now not so well-known. The special forces and operations in Syria and Iraq are call lined by the Patriot Act and battle on awe rules.
No cruise zone over Gaza. Israel peek enlargement of battle to interpret the bid of self defense.
The houthis must be pleased had WMD's and it's about the safety of our”democracy,” irrespective of our wide launch border,smh