Pentagon Claims Pirates Targeted Israeli-Linked Tanker, Not the Houthis

Two days after news broke that the Houthis in Yemen had tried to seize an Israeli-linked tanker in what seemed like a special kind of escalation of the conflict, the Pentagon surprised many by rejecting the story. Per its press secretary, the people who tried to seize the Central Park in the Gulf of Aden last weekend were not Houthis but likely Somali pirates. "We're continuing to assess, but initial indications are that these five individuals are Somali," Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told media. "Clearly a piracy-related incident," he added.…