The Houthis are riding high. They paralyze Red Sea shipping and cost Egypt billions of dollars in Suez Canal revenue as cargo ships divert around the Cape of Good Hope. Houthi militias have launched scores of drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but on Tuesday, they demonstrated new reach with a missile strike on Israel. The Houthi threat will only increase as the Biden administration’s latest $10 billion sanctions waiver for Iran trickles down to Iran’s terrorist proxies.

The United States may bristle, but its response to the Houthi attacks is, at best, whack-a-mole and, at worst, an irresponsible use of the U.S. Navy in lieu of strategy. The danger is twofold: First, an open-ended naval mission erodes readiness should a major crisis erupt elsewhere, as aircraft carriers and other ships must spend as much time undergoing maintenance in home ports as they do at sea.