Title: Trump authorizes new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
Tags: [Yemen, United States, Houthi rebels, Tom Cotton, military action, Middle East, Mohammed Abdulsalam, Hillary Clinton, Trump administration]
Description: President Trump gave his approval for new strikes in Yemen this weekend, reportedly following the lobbying efforts of powerful Republican Senator Tom Cotton to strike Houthi rebels and end US’s reliance on the Saudi-led coalition. The administration’s new policy aims to confront Iran’s influence in Yemen, where the Houthis are backed by Tehran, leading to fears of a renewed proxy war in the region. In a statement, Senator Cotton called for a “decisive victory” over the Houthis and the “liberation” of Yemen, and also urged restrictions on US military assistance to the Saudi-led coalition. However, leading foreign policy figures like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that escalating the situation in Yemen could exacerbate the country’s deadly humanitarian crisis and destabilize the region further. The United Arab Emirates and the White House declined to comment on the issue, but diplomats suggested that the Trump administration would look for a “more concerted and focused” approach, although it’s unclear what new course of action would entail. With these strikes, the United States would be joining a multi-national coalition that included primarily Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait and Sudan. The Houthis have called for their removal from a terrorist list in exchange for negotiating for peace, but the Trump administration’s decision to authorize new strikes suggests that it may be taking a harder line on Iran’s involvement in Yemen.
However, in February, the United States’ new defense secretary, Mark Esper, said that the United States would seek to take a more “quiet” and “secret” approach to Yemen, suggesting that any new military intervention could be limited in scope. In any case, the escalating tensions in Yemen and the possibility of US military intervention have significant implications for the security of the region and the millions of Yemenis caught in one of the world’s most deadly humanitarian crises.
Leave a Reply