Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that the US would cease bombing the Houthis, not even two months after he foolishly escalated the cynical sea-and-air assault he inherited from the Biden administration, came as a surprise, particularly while Sanaa International Airport lay smoking on Monday from Israeli warplanes. But the year-long US campaign, from the start, lacked any theory of victory.

Any de-escalation in this frightening Middle Eastern moment is cause for relief, particularly as the Yemen Data Project claims US-led strikes last month alone killed 208 civilians, including 17 children, and wounded 366 more. The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, frustrated the Navy, rather than defeated it outright. And Trump can say whatever he likes to portray this as a victory. But the material realities in Yemen and the Red Sea, as well as both presidents’ objectives for the air-sea campaign, make the US capitulation undeniable.