By Alicia Kearns Military action should never be taken lightly. It is a last resort and should only be authorised if it is necessary, legal, and proportionate. The decision to launch targeted strikes against the Houthis by the UK and US satisfied all these tests – it was the right thing to do. With twenty-six Houthi attacks since November, including the largest attack on a Royal Navy warship in decades, this action is a coercive effort to terminate the threat to naval and merchant ships and re-establish deterrence. It is preventative, not punitive, and a direct response to the rising threat to…