The humanitarian situation in Yemen is indeed unbearable, but it is the Houthis who are causing and compounding it.
If the international community wants, it can pay a ransom to the people causing the suffering. It is a form of manipulation.... What the Houthis and similar groups see is: Extortion works, let's keep doing it!
The Houthis are backed by Iran, just like its designated terror proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. All three terror groups are disruptive forces in the Middle East, and used by Iran in its efforts to undercut U.S. influence in the region and threaten Israel and the Gulf states.
The government of the internationally recognized Republic of Yemen also has presented intelligence showing that the Houthis work with al-Qaeda and ISIS to spread terror and conflict in the country.
The problem, therefore, is not just the Houthis, it is also Iran. When the Houthis are not listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), Iran is effectively invited to advance its nuclear weapons program and "export its revolution" -- with no obstruction.
Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS are not groups that have earned the trust of the international community to help alleviate humanitarian crises anywhere in the world, ever.
Delay or failure to re-list the Houthis will only allow the problem to metastasize and further spread across the Middle East -- exactly the objective of Iran's regime. The Houthis' attacks on the UAE has shown the Iranian-backed terror proxy's reach expanding to build fear; they have already threatened more attacks.
How the U.S. addresses the threat posed by the Houthis will be closely watched by Iran's friends, the Russians and the Chinese. It will be watched by Iran's other proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. It also will be watched closely by the friends of the U.S., including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
Allowing the Houthis -- and Iran -- unchecked freedom to terrorize the Middle East will only make the humanitarian crisis expand in scope and severity. Iran, Russia and China are saber rattling. The Biden Administration needs to show it will protect our allies, immediately redesignate the Houthis as an FTO, and make aggression unthinkable to our adversaries – not reward them.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is indeed unbearable, but it is the Houthis who are causing and compounding it. The U.S. and the international community can no longer ignore or reward the malign behavior of Iran or the Houthis. Allowing the Houthis -- and Iran -- unchecked freedom to terrorize the Middle East will only make the humanitarian crisis expand in scope and severity. Pictured: Houthi forces in Sanaa, Yemen on April 8, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. and the international community can no longer ignore or reward the malign behavior of Iran or the Houthis.
International pressure is growing to redesignate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), but pushback is emerging from humanitarian groups who fear it could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The concerns of these groups are not unfounded, but failure to relist the Houthis will not address the underlying, root cause of the issue -- Iran's destabilizing effects on the Middle East executed in concert with its terrorist proxies, which include the Houthis.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is indeed unbearable, but it is the Houthis who are causing and compounding it.
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