Deterrence isn't working any more

The sight of an American aircraft carrier battle group steaming offshore used to be a pretty credible deterrent to any state or militia planning to cause mayhem in a region. But no longer. The US Navy is in the eastern Mediterrranean and Red Sea in full glory, backed by a few other navies on a much smaller scale, including Britain's, but the rockets and missiles and drones keep coming. The Houthis in Yemen and the various other Iran-backed militia around the region operating under the umbrella of the so-called Axis of Resistance, armed and funded by Tehran, couldn't care less about the superpower on their doorstep. There has been retaliation by the US and Britain against Houthi missile sites and various leaders and foreign ministers, including Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, have declared boldly that the strike-backs were intended to send a strong signal to Tehran. But Tehran and its proxy forces have just laughed in tbeir faces. Strong signal? What strong signal? It has made no difference. This is a seriously worrying moment for the US and its western coalition partners. If aircraft carriers and retaliatory strikes are not deterring these Islamic militia from carrying on with their deadly attacks, what else will? Sanctions have achieved very little in the past. Look at Russia, the West has sanctioned Moscow with everything since the invasion of Ukraine and yet the war goes on and Putin has the firepower to last for ever it seems. So it looks like the Axis of Resistance is going to ignore all the warnings from Washington, certainly while Israel is still at war with Hamas in Gaza.