President Joe Biden told reporters this weekend that his administration's decision to remove Yemen's Houthi terrorist group from the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list is “irrelevant.”
The same day on Friday, Biden responded, “I do,” when asked if he believed the Houthis met the definition of a terrorist organization.
Biden overruled the State Department's terrorist designation in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was touring local businesses, shortly after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a series of targeted airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
At 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) on January 11, U.S. Central Command, in coordination with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain, launched an attack on the Houthis to reduce their ability to sustain attacks. Conducted joint attacks against targets. they are illegal… pic.twitter.com/bR8biMolSx
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 12, 2024
The Houthis have dramatically disrupted global trade since declaring war on Israel in October and carrying out their declaration by attacking merchant ships transiting the Red Sea. Although Houthi leaders claim that they only target Israeli vessels or vessels entering or exiting Israel, in reality their drone and missile attacks seemingly target Israel. It looks like there is. random commercial ship.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea led to a 90 percent year-on-year decline in container ship traffic through the Red Sea and Suez Canal from January 2023 to 2024, with large-scale diversions of shipping traffic to Africa; It became a stopover there. Around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. As of Friday, the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) recorded an increase of more than 300 percent in transportation costs per container.
The Houthis began overthrowing Yemen's legitimate government in 2014, sparking an ongoing civil war in the country. The Houthis, officially known as Ansarullah, are a Shiite terrorist organization with close ties to Iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism.their officials slogan It is “Allah Akbar, death to America, death to Israel, curse to the Jews, victory to Islam.''
Biden's initial response to the Houthis' campaign against global shipping in the region was largely a shady Western military effort aimed at assuring commercial shipping companies that navigation in the region was safe. The idea was to create a coalition called Operation Prosperity Guardian. Operation Prosperity Guardian lacks support from some of the most influential countries in the region, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, which has long faced targeted attacks by the Houthis, and some allies such as India. urged them to increase their naval presence. Participates in the Red Sea but declines to participate in Biden-led initiatives.
not good. https://t.co/zqapy5crkR
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 15, 2024
On Friday, Centcom, along with the British military, announced an expansion of airstrikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen. The attack featured prominently in questions asked by reporters during Biden's tour of Pennsylvania. A reporter asked Biden if he believed the Houthis met the definition of a terrorist group, to which Biden responded in the affirmative. As a follow-up, another reporter asked: [Biden] Is it okay to specify them as such? ”
“It doesn't matter whether you're designated or not,” Biden responded, according to the transcript. published by the White House. “We have put together a group of countries that are going to say that if they continue to act and behave the way they are, we will respond.”
Biden appears to be referring to Operation Prosperity Guardian.
The president's declaration of the State Department's FTO list as “irrelevant” clashed with comments from National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby. Said On the same day, reporters said the government believed the FTO list was sufficiently relevant to “consider” not including the Houthis on that list.
This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows a Houthi military helicopter approaching the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on Sunday, November 19, 2023. Yemen's Houthis seized the ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen after threatening to seize all ships in their fleet. Israeli company. (Houthi Media Center, via AP)
“We are considering the findings of the FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) on the Houthis. As you know, we have delisted them,” Kirby acknowledged, “and we are considering that decision. We have announced that we are currently considering this. No decision has been made yet.”
Kirby told reporters that despite removing the Houthis from the list, “with this administration alone, we have again reimposed about 500 sanctions – against 500 organizations, 50 sanctions regimes. “, likely against both the Houthis and their group,” he said. Guardian country, Iran.
“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent these destabilizing actions, these destabilizing actions by Iran,” he added.
Kirby stressed that while the Biden administration is “not interested in a war with Yemen” or “any kind of conflict here,” it finds it impossible to continue to ignore the disruption to international commercial shipping. .
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced The Biden administration announced that it would remove the Houthis from the FTO list on February 12, 2021, as one of Biden's first actions after taking office. Blinken's statement did not say that the Houthis deserved to be removed from the list as a result of ceasing their terrorist activities.
Houthis insist international shipping is 'safe', vow to continue Red Sea attacks https://t.co/PwSczxQwRn
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 12, 2024
“The United States remains vigilant regarding Mr. Ansarala's case.” [the Houthis’ formal name] Blinken called for “malicious acts and aggression,” including “seizing vast swaths of Yemen by force, attacks on U.S. partners in the Gulf, and the kidnapping and torture of nationals of the United States and many allies,” among others. He said it included an attack.
Nevertheless, Blinken said the delisting was a “recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen” and was necessary to give the Houthis money that would be used for food and medical aid to Yemeni civilians. He said that there is.
“The FTO designation plays an important role in the fight against terrorism and is an effective means of reducing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to exit the terrorist business,” the State Department said. explain on its website. They make it illegal for American persons or American entities to provide “material support or resources” to groups in question and severely limit terrorist financing abilities.
“Lifting the designation, as the Biden administration has done, would give them access to the global banking system, allow them to travel freely, and allow them to interact with allies,” said Kash Patel, a former Pentagon chief of staff. It gives them permission to go about their business.” The president, who served under former President Donald Trump, told Breitbart News in December. “So you're allowing them to get money, you're allowing them to get funding. You're allowing Iran to pay them, but we have no recourse.”
“They are not a designated terrorist organization for operational or intelligence purposes, so they are not a priority for elimination, and they are not a priority for intelligence gathering purposes,” Patel added.
trump administration Added Biden added the Houthis to the FTO list in January 2021, a month before removing them.
