US official: We have not imagined that attacks on US ships would happen in the Red Sea

WORLD, Dec. 05 (YPA) – Pentagon officials are disappointed with President Joe Biden’s administration’s reaction to attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Politico newspaper reported.

The paper quoted US military officials as saying that the head of state underestimates the seriousness of the threat facing US forces in the region.

On Monday, US Central Command reported that commercial ships in the Red Sea were attacked four times in 24 hours, and a US destroyer responded to warning signals from those ships, shooting down three drones.

According to Pentagon officials and senior administration officials, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, it is impossible to say with certainty that the target of these attacks was a US warship.

But four officials told the newspaper on condition of anonymity that   US naval forces were “clearly threatened” in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Another official said the Biden administration was deliberately downplaying the threat in the Red Sea to avoid escalation in “an area on the brink of conflict over the situation around Israel and Palestine.”

E.M