The US military believed that fighting the Houthis was as easy as striking Bin Laden and Saddam. The Houthis believed they would win. In fact, no matter how the US fought, it would be a loser.
The US began to take fierce military actions against the Houthi armed forces, and the corresponding strike plan also leaked. The US military carried out decapitation operations, adopting a similar strike method to those against Bin Laden and Saddam. The US strategy was to form strong deterrence through continuous decapitation operations, thus undermining the Houthis' will to resist, and ultimately achieving victory. The US appeared very confident, boasting loudly about completely wiping out the Houthis, just like Israel's confidence in proclaiming its intention to eliminate Hamas.
However, the Houthis were not intimidated. Instead, they responded firmly, believing they could win in the end. Even if the US threatened to deploy ground troops, the Houthis were not afraid. The Houthis were different from Bin Laden, Saddam, and Gaddafi because the Houthis were essentially an armed force of local farmers. They were fighting for their own interests and had no opposition within. Saddam had many opponents in Iraq, but the Houthis enjoyed absolute majority support.
The Houthis did not even have proper headquarters buildings or military bases, making them a very thorough guerrilla force. The Houthis were scattered among the local population. More importantly, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, with over 20 million people living in extreme poverty. This meant that the Houthis were fearless and undeterred by US airstrikes and decapitation operations.
The leaders of the Houthis operated in dispersed ways. Even if the US killed one or two leaders, it would not deal a fatal blow to the organization. The US might win most tactical actions against the "shoe army," but the ultimate loser would be the US, as this would further worsen America's debt problems and potentially lead to the collapse of the United States.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1827716197273792/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's views.