McKenzie: The ‘Larger Story’ Behind the Signal Chat Controversy Is That the U.S. Has Finally Begun to Strike the Houthis Hard

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MCKENZIE: “I think the larger story here is actually that we have finally begun to strike the Houthis hard. There's an old Neil Young song, and I will lift a line from it, should have been done long ago. Well, now we're beginning to do it, and we're beginning to strike effectively at a pace, a scope and a tempo that, frankly, eluded the last information -- the last administration. And I would argue that we're doing it because, for the first time, we have the political will to employ appropriate military capability against the Houthis. And we want one of two things from the Houthis. We want them either to be deterred from attacking ships that pass through the Bab-el- Mandeb, really means the Suez Canal. That's one condition. The other condition would be, if they won't -- if they won't stop, we want to remove their capability to do it. The second task would be harder. It is within our capability. It will not be a short action. It won't be what would call a single period of darkness. These attacks will have to continue. They may grow in scope and scale. They're certainly not endless in time. And we need -- we need to -- we need to fix the problem and move on to other things. I think the fact that we have a second aircraft carrier that's moving to CENTCOM is certainly a sign that this administration is very serious about this requirement. The fact we're moving B-2s into the region similarly signals that. But I believe, again, for the first time, we're coupling genuine political will to act along with military capability. So it's a unique -- it's a unique moment in the theater, and I'm glad to see that this administration is grasping that opportunity.”