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Houthi Shiite Militants Take Over Yemen
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
January 25, 2015
All Rights Reserved.
Resigning under pressure from Yemen’s Shiite Houthi
minority, U.S.-friendly Yemen President Abed Rabbo Mansour abandoned the
presidential palace sending Yemen’s turbulent government into chaos. Yemen’s Sunni majority won’t accept
Houthi rule, raising fears of the country splitting from North to South along
Shiite and Sunni lines. Houthi
militants disrupted peace demonstration at Sanaa University, evicting
journalists and suppressing demonstrators protesting Houthi rule. Mansour was the main U.S. ally in its fight against the virulent terrorist branch called
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP], once led by U.S.-born al-Qaeda
militant Anwar al-Alwlaki until a U.S. smart bomb ended his reign Sept., 30,
2011. When new leader Nasr al-Ansi
claimed the Paris Charlie Hebdo massare Jan. 7, it reminded U.S. officials the
extreme danger of Yemen’s al-Qaeda
branch.
Houthi militants are joined with al-Qaeda in only one respect: Their abiding hatred of the U.S. While Houthis and al-Qaeda operate
differently, both are content to divide Yemen into a Shiite North and Sunni
South, until al-Qaeda seizes the chance to take over the entire country. More politically aligned with Iran
and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, the Houthi’s despise the U.S. more than
its Sunni rivals. With limited
resources on the ground, the U.S. didn’t lend intel and military support to keep
Mansur and his Prime Minister Khalid Bahah in power. Without Mansour and Bahah, the U.S.
has little leverage to continue even drone attacks on AQAP. Insisting the Houthi coup would not
change U.S. efforts against AQAP, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
tried to reassure critics about the failure of the U.S. to keep Mansour and
Bahah in power.
McDonough denied on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Yemen coup would
change U.S. leverage on AQAP in Yemen.
“I think it’s very important to recognize the government in Yemen has
always been difficult,” McDonough, minimizing what looks like another failure in
President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.
White House officials and Congressional Democrats have wasted days over
House Speaker John Boehner’s direct invitation to Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu speak to a joint session of Congress about Iran and
terrorism. Finally McDononugh
conceded yesterday that the White House is OK with Netanyahu speaking to a joint
session of Congress. Congressional
officials want to hear firsthand from Netanyahu whether current U.S. policies
help or hinder the war on terror.
McDonough’s reassurance does little to allay concerns over the Houthi coup.
Speaking to Bob Schieffer on
“Face The Nation,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Chairman of the Armed Service
Committee, called White House remarks “delusional,” insisting that U.S.
anti-terrorism efforts were not compromised by the Houthi Coup. With al-Ansi threatening attacks on
the U.S. homeland, McCain believes more U.S. special forces are needed in Yemen
to help target AQAP before a Charile Hebdo-like event happens in the States. “We will continue to press on the
ground, including today, to make decisions transparently, pursuant to a
political agreement, so that we can worked with them to keep on the offensive
against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
But we cant’ be responsible for every government in the region, we have
to make sure that they’re doing that themselves,” said McDonough. White House officials can’t have it
both ways: Blaming failed states
and failing to support U.S. allies.
U.S. officials knew the risk posed by Houthi rebels to Mansour’s
government before he was driven from power Jan. 20. Yemen’s Houthi government is aligned
with Iran and Hezbollah, making them more hostile to the U.S. McCain doesn’t buy McDonough’s
gibberish about the current chaos in Sanaa.
Making transparent decisions “pursuant to a political agreement” no
longer exists under the Houthi regime that won’t let the U.S. continue its
counter-terrorism efforts against AQAP in Yemen.
When McDonough says, “we can’t be responsible for every government in the
region,” he denies any preemptive responsibility to stave off a coup d’etat. Losing Masour and Bahah dealt a big
blow to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts in Yemen.
U.S. learned the hard way in Iran in 1979 when the Shah was toppled by
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei in what’s known as Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
Watching the U.S.-friendly Yemen government fall to militant Houthi
Shiites dealt a big blow to U.S. counter-terror operations in Yemen. With
Yemen’s al-Qaeda leader Nasr al-Ansi threatening U.S. terror attacks, the White
House will have to do more than promise better intel in the Arabian Peninsula. Letting Yemen go rogue increases the
chances that AQAP will finally get to repay the U.S. for taking out al-Awlaki
Sept. 30, 2011. Less than a later,
AQAP lashed out at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya Sept 11. 2012, killing
52-year-old Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Pretending that the Yemen coup
doesn’t hurt U.S. counter-terrorism efforts does nothing to fix the problem. Urgent counter-terrorism efforts are
now needed in Yemen to prevent another Benghazi-like attack, including beefing
up U.S. embassies and missions in high-terrorism rich areas.
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