The US military coordinated an airstrike on Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces in Yemen on Thursday following escalating conflict in the Red Sea, greatly impacting global trade routes for freight shippers.

Norman Roule, Non-resident Senior Adviser for the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) Transnational Threats project, believes the United States is "facing a choice" in resolving this issue and offset global supply chain disruptions.

"Does it [the US} continue to just play defense, or does it undertake a serious, long-term action to degrade Houthi missile, drone, naval mine, and explosive boat capabilities," Roule, a former senior US intelligence official, tells Yahoo Finance. "We shouldn't underestimate the amount of resources or commitment required to do that, but the alternative is asking ourselves what is victory?"

Roule also comments on Iran's implicated involvement in this conflict.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

JOSH LIPTON: If they continue attacking even on a limited basis, going after merchant ships or US Naval assets, shutting down the Red Sea, that has just this enormous implications, Norman, for global trade. It's beginning to hit specific companies. I'm sure you saw the news from Tesla today.

That doesn't sound tenable. What would be our next reaction? What would you think we would do next?

NORMAN ROULE: Well, you're absolutely right. And in fact, the United States has urged US-flagged shipping to stay away from the area in the near term. All major flag carriers not associated with Russia and China have avoided the area. And this has imposed new expenses on all shipping costs worldwide to include shipping costs from China to Los Angeles, which does not transit the Middle East, but involves a higher rate of pay for ships that are available.

The United States is facing a choice, does it continue to just play defense or does it undertake a serious long-term action to degrade Houthi missile, drone, naval mined, and explosive boat capabilities? We shouldn't underestimate the amount of resources or commitment required to do that. But the alternative is asking ourselves, what is victory? Is victory just maintaining a long-term presence and catching every drone and missile they fire? There will be a lot of those.

JOSH LIPTON: And Norman, is the real issue here, though-- we can talk about degrading the Houthis, but the real issue is Iran, right? I mean these are all Iranian proxies, Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah. I mean, is that the real issue? Unless you're really taking on Iran more directly, are you really dealing with the issue?