My latest in PJ Media:
When Donald Trump had the Yemeni Shi’ite Houthis, a client group of the Islamic Republic of Iran, designated as foreign terrorists, the Leftist political and media establishment was (as always regarding anything and everything Trump did) outraged. No fewer than twenty-two aid groups that were operating in Yemen demanded that the designation be revoked “immediately,” and when his handlers gained control of the presidency of the United States, Old Joe Biden did just that. But in this case as in so many others, Trump turns out to have been right again. If any group deserves to be considered foreign terrorists, it’s the Houthis.
In May, the U.S. Navy seized thousands of assault weapons, machine guns, and sniper rifles from a ship that appeared to have been heading to Yemen to aid the Houthis. Those were likely intended to be used against Saudi Arabia, but two weeks after Biden’s handlers revoked the terror designation, Yemeni political analyst Salim Al-Muntaser made it clear that the Houthis (who call themselves Ansar Allah, or Helpers of Allah) had another goal in mind as well: the end of the American presence in the Middle East. Al-Muntaser boasted that “Ansar Allah’s strikes have worn Saudi Arabia down, and have turned their American weapons into scrap metal. The advanced American Patriot missiles cannot intercept drones and ballistic missiles that are considered primitive. Therefore, there is no longer any significance to American presence in the Middle East. Soon we will witness a complete American withdrawal.”
This would, he said, lead to the destruction of Israel: “After that, there is no doubt that the Zionist entity will not be strong enough to face the resistance axis. I will not be surprised, and I expect that missiles will be launched from Saada and Sanaa in Yemen towards the so-called ‘Tel-Aviv’ and the Zionist entity will be destroyed.” Turning his attention to the Houthis’ patrons in Tehran, he added: “The Islamic Republic does not need the nuclear agreement. It does not need to sit at the negotiating table. It is the Americans and the Zionists who needs this. They are terrified by the thought that the Islamic Republic would produce nuclear weapons and exterminate the Zionist entity.”
There may be very good reasons for the U.S. to reduce its presence in the Middle East, and for our new woke military to give up both Wilsonian adventurism in the Islamic world and social engineering among the troops, and concentrate instead on actually defending the United States. However, Al-Muntaser made it clear that the Houthis were an entity that is hostile to the United States. For Old Joe’s bosses to take them off the foreign terrorist list was just as wrongheaded as their relentless appeasement of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and, in fact, was another manifestation of that appeasement.
There is more. Read the rest here.
Walter Sieruk says
Joe Biden is ,without doubt, an actual real villain.
maria says
yes he is
Geof B says
Joe Biden is a globalist puppet as are most politicians . His bosses are the real villains
RonaldB says
My definition of a terror group is a group that targets civilians with violence to advance a political objective. I think there is an unfortunate tendency to label rebel groups, or groups that fight against the armies of allied countries as terror groups. For example, Hezbollah is labeled a terror group. They indeed used to target civilians, kidnap them and keep them in horrible circumstances. But, Hezbollah is pretty much the government of Lebanon. Is it informative to keep on labeling them as “terrorists”? The real question is, do they still target civilians for violence to advance a political agenda?
The Houthis are unquestionably carrying out a guerrilla was against Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia blockades the Houthi territories and carries out strikes against civilians. Houthis target Saudi ports and facilities. The US may consider Saudi Arabia an ally, but is it informative to automatically label a group carrying out non-symmetrical warfare against an ally as a “terror” group?
gravenimage says
Ronald, the Shia Houthis are indeed Jihad terrorists–this is not because the also Jihad-enabling Sunni Saudis oppose them.
The Houthis have been waging Jihad against israel, persecuting Infidels and minority-sect Muslims at home, oppressing women, and vowing to murder Coronavirus victims. They sound like terrorists to me. Here are some stories:
https://jihadwatch.org/tag/houthis
RonaldB says
Gravenimage,
I didn’t read all the stories, but I took the story by Robert Spencer, “Pompeo: Revoking Houthi terror designation is ‘gift to the Iranians,’ Houthis will ‘continue to foment terror’”
as most likely to make the case for a terrorist designation.
https://jihadwatch.org/2021/02/pompeo-revoking-houthi-terror-designation-is-gift-to-the-iranians-houthis-will-continue-to-foment-terror
As far as I can see, the Houthis, like Saudi Arabia, are engaging in a dirty, asymmetric war. I don’t see claims where the Houthis specifically go after civilians to achieve a political purpose. Spencer, in the story, claims basically that withdrawing the terror designation from the Houthis deprives the US of a bargaining chip. I do have sympathy for this point of view. It’s akin to Trump’s complaint that Biden’s approval of the Russian Nordstream 2 pipeline threw away a US bargaining chip. I don’t agree with the sanctions against Russia, but if we have a sanction in place, we should try to get something for lifting it.
But, as far as an objective reason for labeling the Houthis as terrorists, except for the fact that they are fighting against our designated “allies” in a dirty war, I don’t see where labeling them as terrorists does anything except cut off objective discussion of whether the US should be involved in the matter at all. Which I believe we should not.
gravenimage says
Ronald, if you checked out the stories at the links I provided you would see that the Houthis do indeed target civilians. The idea that they only go after the Saudis is quite mistaken.
RonaldB says
gravenimage:
I went through most of the links. The most informative summary of the issues I found was in https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/24/why-the-us-is-wrong-to-designate-the-houthis-as-terrorists
This is an al jazeera article referenced and criticized by Robert Spencer. https://jihadwatch.org/2021/01/al-jazeera-says-us-is-wrong-to-designate-houthis-as-terrorists
In spite of being criticized by Spencer, I find the arguments compelling. In a nutshell, they say that Ansar Allah, the de facto Houthi-led government in North Yemen “carried out heinous attacks on civilians in violations of the laws of war. The facts of Ansar Allah’s abuses are well documented, including indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, obstruction of food and medical aid, and the use of child soldiers.”.
Nevertheless, says the article, the crimes carried out by the US-backed Saudis and emirates have been at least as bad.
The effects of the terror designation allows the US, Saudi Arabia, and the emirates to carry out food, medicine, and supply embargos against Yemen. These actions are devastating to the civilian population.
The war in Yemen is, of course, a proxy war against Iran. The Trump administration supported this embargo, and, of course, numerous other embargoes directly against Iran, Russia, North Korea, etc. In other words, embargoes are a weapon akin to war, except that the deaths resulting from starvation are not splashed on front pages.
I’m not a fan of using embargoes, especially food, for any reason except immediate self-security. I don’t mean as tools for our side in a global chess game of influence, but actual physical defense measures.
:
The point of the al jazzera article is that if you have two sides committing heinous acts, and you designate only one side as terrorist, with the accompanying embargoes and sanctions, you’re making the terror designation as a political tool. Kind of like, designating the Jan 6tth capitol protesters as an “insurrection”, while letting the Antifa rioters off scot-free after burning and looting buildings and killing people.
gravenimage says
Ronald, I agree that the Saudis also fund terrorism–I have in fact long said this. The idea that this makes the vicious Houthis any better is odd, though.
RonaldB says
My point is, the designation of “terrorist” should have real meaning, not simply a political designation to justify your foreign policy. US foreign policy has long since been coopted by globalist and corporate interests. It has little or nothing to do with real US interests.
I’ll be very specific. The US specifies the Houthi as a terror organization. The Houthi are (for the moment) viewed as enemies of the US foreign policy establishment. The US treats Saudi Arabia and the emirates as an ally. They commit acts every bit as horrific against Yemen. But, because the US wants to treat them as an ally, the Houthi are called terrorists, and the Saudis aren’t. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. If the Saudis want to slaughter Houthi civilians, and the Houthis want to attack Saudi civilian installations, I don’t want the US to be involved. Let the Middle Eastern countries fight it out, and come to their own settlements.
You might notice I’ve become cynical with regard to the US foreign affairs establishment. I don’t trust them, and I’m not willing to go along with boycotts, coups, and supposedly-neutral organizations like the white hats that certified a phony chemical attack in Syria by the Syrian government.
gravenimage says
Ronald, I believe I have given enough examples of the Houthis being terrorists. If you want to consider them misunderstood boy scouts instead because the mean old Infidel Americans don’t like them there is not much more I can say.
Infidel says
RonaldB
If the Houthis are just opposed to the Saudis, why does their flag have ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ on it? Both countries would be pretty happy to leave them alone. But the Houthis are in a symbiotic relationship w/ both Iran and Hizbullah
RonaldB says
See my comment to gravenimage. I don’t care what the Houthis say. I care what they do. A designation of “terror” should signify something more than that they say something you don’t like, or even they say something you find reprehensible.
gravenimage says
Targeting Jews, imposing brutal Shari’ah law, oppressing women, and demanding Jizya are not just words as you appear to believe.
gravenimage says
Group Biden Removed From Terror List Show Gratitude by Screaming ‘Death to America!’
………………
Yep.
OLD GUY says
Common sense seems to be lacking in Washington.
OLD GUY says
Common sense seems to be gone in Washington.