Yemen strike

Obama: Yemen strikes were 'limited and proportionate'

By Gregory Korte

President Obama told Congress Friday that the missile strikes he ordered against radar sites in Yemen were a "limited and proportionate" response to threats against U.S. Navy ships in the area.

Obama's explanation came in the form of a notice under the War Powers Resolution, which denotes a significant U.S. intervention in a foreign conflict. While the U.S. has supported Saudi Arabian action against the Houthi rebels in the past, the missile strikes this week marked the entrance of U.S. forces into the long-simmering civil war on the Arabian peninsula.

U.S. missiles hit three radar facilities in rebel-controlled territory after the Navy said one of its destroyers, the U.S.S. Mason, was targeted by a cruise missile on Wednesday, as tensions have escalated following Saudi strikes have led to increasing civilian deaths.

"I directed these strikes in response to anti-ship cruise missile launches perpetrated by Houthi insurgents that threatened U.S. Navy warships in the international waters of the Red Sea on October 9 and October 12," Obama wrote in the one-page notice. "The United States stands ready to take action in self-defense, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats."

"This is purely a self-defense action designed to deter future missile strikes against U.S. assets in the area," White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said Thursday. "The intent of our strikes were to deter future attacks and to reduce the risk to U.S. and other vessels.  And we are prepared to respond if necessary to any future missile launches."