In December 2023, the United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian. Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen were attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, and the U.S. wanted to form an international mission to counter the attacks.

However, many allies refused to participate. Germany, France, Italy, Egypt and Saudi Arabia stayed out of the operation and independently sent their own defense ships into the sea. But with 20 allies offering their support, eight of which decided to remain unnamed, America went forward with the mission.

Over the past year, American destroyers, aircraft carriers, assault ships, frigates and warplanes have been countering the Houthis in the Red Sea. One of main forces America sent was the Ike Carrier Strike Group, which included aircraft carrier uss Dwight D. Eisenhower and its escorts the uss Gravely, uss Laboon and uss Mason. Over the course of its nine-month deployment, Ike:

• Conducted over 13,000 sorties totaling more than 29,500 flight hours
• Expended more than 80 air-to-air missiles
• Launched more than 350 air-to-surface weapons
• Launched over 100 Standard and Tomahawk missiles

In an interview with YouTuber and U.S. Navy veteran Ward Carroll, the strike group’s commander, Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, said Ike also performed “seven dedicated, deliberate strikes” directly into Yemen. Admiral Miguez explained, “I saw a downtick in activity after we conducted these deliberate strikes. We were definitely degrading their capability.”

However, the counterstrikes stopped there. When “more aggressive postures and more aggressive strikes” were suggested to the National Command Authority, Admiral Miguez said they decided it “was not something we wanted to challenge.”

But the Houthis continue to launch successful attacks.

In August, a Greek-owned oil tanker carrying 150,000 tons of crude (over 1 million barrels) was surrounded and attacked by several small Houthi vessels as it passed the coast of Yemen. The Houthis fired projectiles at the tanker, which disabled its engine, set it on fire, and forced its 25 crew members to abandon ship. The crew was rescued by a French military vessel, but the tanker was left to burn in the sea for nearly a month.

U.S. Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said a few days after the attack that the ship appeared to be leaking oil and posed a “potential environmental catastrophe.” When asked by reporters if the U.S. was doing anything about the situation, Ryder said a third party had sent two tugboats to rescue the ship, but Houthi rebels threatened to attack them.

“Any oil spill in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden threatens Yemeni fishing stocks, will affect millions of Yemenis in coastal cities with toxic gases, will stop the work of Yemeni ports, will pollute Red Sea desalination plants, and cut off their supplies,” said Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar al-Eryani,. “Yemen will lose fisheries that provide a livelihood for 1.7 million Yemeni citizens and will destroy the biodiversity and ecosystem in the region.”

Operation Aspides, the European Union’s naval mission to counter Houthi attacks, eventually sent ships to tow the burning tanker to a safe area.

In early October, another oil tanker, Cordelia Moon, and a bulk carrier, Minoan Courage, were attacked by Houthi missiles and drones. One of the vessel’s ballast tanks, which holds water to stabilize the ship, was punctured, but the crew remained unharmed.

In an October speech, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi claimed the group had targeted 193 ships passing by Yemen and launched over 1,000 missiles and drones in the past year. He also claimed Houthi forces “shot down 11 armed American MQ9 drones over the past year.”

Operation Prosperity Guardian is effectively at a standstill. The Ike Carrier Strike Group has returned to the U.S. and not much has been said about the operation since its announcement in December.

The U.S. has the world’s strongest military, yet it is failing to defend the Red Sea from a small Iran-backed terrorist group. Now, more world powers are stepping in as America’s weakness is exposed.

On October 24, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia provided the Houthis with satellite targeting data for their attacks. According to the report, data was passed from Russia to the Houthis through members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a think tank based in Berlin, explained:

For Russia, any flare-up anywhere is good news because it takes the world’s attention further away from Ukraine and the U.S. needs to commit resources—Patriot systems or artillery shells. And with the Middle East in play, it’s clear where the U.S. will choose.

America has power but is failing to use it; its allies are backing down, and its enemies growing bolder.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong prophesied this change. In The United States and Britain in Prophecy, he quoted Leviticus 26:18-20, which state: “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me … I will break the pride of your power; … And your strength shall be spent in vain ….” Mr. Armstrong explained this was a prophecy of what would happen to America and Britain today because they have turned away from God. He wrote:

Today even little nations dare to insult, trample on, or burn the United States flag—and the United States, still having power, does no more than issue a weak protest! What’s happened to the pride of our power?

We have already lost it! …

You need to open your eyes to the fact that Britain’s sun already has set! You need to wake up to the fact that the United States, even still possessing unmatched power, is afraid—fears—to use it, just as God said: “I will break the pride of your power”; that the United States has stopped winning wars …. The United States is fast riding to the greatest fall that ever befell any nation!

Because our nations have broken God’s laws, He has broken the pride of our power. But Mr. Armstrong explained that if we respond to this correction, things can turn around. America does not have to lose battles.

To learn more, request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy.