Barran Press
Admiral Mark Miguez, a US Navy commander, has revealed that officers proposed more aggressive strikes against the Houthis, but the top brass rejected the idea.
Miguez, who oversaw most of the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group's missions in the Red Sea for eight months, told YouTuber Ward Carroll that the "US national leadership was thinking about the Iranian response," according to Al Arabiya Net.
"There were specific strategies that were put on the table to deal with the Houthis, but the leadership decided that those, I would call them more aggressive postures and more aggressive strikes, were not something that we wanted to challenge," Miguez said.
"We all know the Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis, and we know where that threat comes from," he added. "That's the subject that's dealt with at higher levels like the national leadership, and at the National Security Agency, and everybody else. Those are upper-level things that I don't get involved in."
Miguez explained that the carrier strike group launched seven dedicated strikes against Houthi targets during its two deployments from October 2023 to June 2024.
Miguez believes the US should adopt a more aggressive stance against the Houthis. "Moving forward, we're going to have to continue to deal with this," he said. "It's going to be up to our leadership to be more aggressive against the Houthis using strike groups and all of our assets, not just the Navy."
Miguez argued that to stop the attacks, the US needs to more forcefully mobilize all its resources, including diplomacy and economic policy.
"If we can focus on that comprehensive approach, I think that's what's going to lead to freedom of navigation in that critical strait, which affects about 20% of global trade," he said.
Miguez was appointed head of Navy Legislative Affairs in July. Since leaving command of the Eisenhower carrier strike group, he has spoken out about the need for the US to train more to counter drones after seeing how extensively the Houthis used them in the Red Sea.