OAN's Elizabeth Bolbelding
3:00 PM – Monday, January 15, 2024
US President Joe Biden says Yemen's Houthi rebels are actually a “terrorist” group after American and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched several airstrikes across Yemen. Stated.
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On Friday, President Biden acknowledged that the Iranian-backed Houthis are “terrorists.” He condemned him and rescinded President Trump's classification of the group as terrorist at the beginning of his administration.
On Friday, a reporter asked Biden whether he would characterize the Houthis as a “terrorist” organization.
“Are you willing to call the Houthis a terrorist group?” the reporter asked.
To this, the president replied, “I think so.''
In February 2021, Biden lifted President Trump's terrorist designation of the group, thereby severing its ties to the global banking system.
The Biden administration claimed the action would “harm Yemeni civilians and disrupt negotiations with rebel groups fighting U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.”
Last month, former Trump Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel took part in an interview in which he explained the importance of calling the Houthi group “terrorists.” Patel said labeling the Houthis as terrorists was important to cutting off their funding and preventing further attacks in Saudi Arabia, where U.S. troops are stationed.
“So if you shut them down financially; [to] Target them as terrorists. And once they meet the threshold, we can remove their leaders, the people who are actually terrorists,” Patel said.
“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 engage in business with allies. “It will be,” he added. “So they can get money, they can get funding. You are allowing Iran to pay them, but we have no recourse. They are designated terrorists. Because it is not an organization, it is not an operational or intelligence priority, and it is not a priority for intelligence gathering purposes.”
The Houthis continue to fire missiles and send attack drones at international commercial warships and U.S. military targets in the Red Sea. The Pentagon says they have attacked ships at least 26 times since November.
To prevent the Houthis from carrying out further attacks, Mr. Biden last week ordered attacks on targets and promised to take further action if necessary. More than 150 weapons were fired at 16 separate locations, according to the Pentagon.
The Houthis said five of their men were killed and six seriously injured in the attack.
On Friday, Biden was asked whether the U.S. would continue bombing if the Houthi attacks did not end.
In response, the Democratic president said, “If the Houthis continue this outrageous act, we will definitely respond with our allies.''
Finally, another reporter intervened and asked about Biden's labeling of the Houthis as “terrorists,” spurring conversions.
The reporter asked, “How soon do you plan to designate it?”
In a second response, Biden claimed the matter was “irrelevant.”
“It doesn't matter if they're designated or not. We've put together a group of countries that are going to say, if they continue to act and behave the way they are, we will respond,” Biden said.
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