Early Saturday, Great Britain joined the United States in strikes against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
A day earlier, the US military responded to the deadly drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan. 
Those retaliatory strikes centered on both iraq and syria, and are not related to Saturday's strikes.

"It's a little late, but I think it's an appropriate measured response," said retired Marine Corps Colonel Brian Kennedy, referring to Friday's retaliatory strikes. He questioned the timing of the response, and offered his perspective.

"My assessment would be is that they're going after known camps, known training sites, known communication, known command and control areas," Kennedy said, also pointing out that military operations are often about political expediency.

"Sometimes it's more difficult for the elected official to make the military action and sometimes it's more difficult for them and it looks worse for them if they don't take military action," he said. "So I think this is one where the commander-in-chief allowed himself and got backed into a corner."

Kennedy added that in this circumstance, President Biden was right to order the operation without going through Congress.
But while The White House says it's trying not to escalate the situation...

"Iran has the opportunity to respond," said Kennedy. "The US has laid all its cards on the table saying it doesn't want to widen the conflict. I disagree with that strategy. I think they should speak with force and speak very little otherwise."