The Intercept reports that the Biden administration is seriously considering the request from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to re-designate Houthis as terrorists:
The White House appears to be seriously considering the change. In late January, Biden’s National Security Council circulated a memo exploring the possibility, according to a U.S. intelligence official and a think tank official familiar with the matter. The memo, a policy options paper produced by the NSC, considers labeling the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or a combination of both, the two sources told The Intercept on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
High-level administration officials discussed the paper during a Friday, February 4 meeting of the National Security Council Deputies Committee, a senior interagency forum for the consideration of national security policy matters, the sources said. The officials who discussed the paper were split, with representatives from the State Department expressing strong opposition to the designations.
As I said a few weeks ago, a decision to re-designate the group would be an appalling error. The Biden administration reversed the designation put in place by Mike Pompeo in the final days of the Trump presidency because they understood the devastating effects that it was already having on the civilian population in Yemen. It was outrageous to apply the designation last year, and it would be doubly so to reapply it when it is clear what the consequences would be for millions of innocent people. Oxfam’s Scott Paul recently had this to say about a possible designation:
Unfortunately, we’ve seen how this plays out – and it’s deadly for Yemenis. When these designations went into effect last year, we saw exporters of vital commodities like food, medicine, and fuel all rush for the exits. It was clear to all that Yemen was heading toward economic freefall. The most important difference between then and now is that today, the Biden administration knows in graphic detail what this will mean for Yemenis who are already facing violence, hunger, and preventable disease. They would knowingly be condemning Yemenis to even more desperate suffering and death.
No one believes that this designation will serve any real purpose except to inflict more starvation on a country already wracked by acute malnutrition and famine. Its effects on the Houthis would be negligible, but it would be a death sentence for millions of innocent people. It is deeply troubling that a proposal this awful is even being entertained.
Read the rest of the article at Eunomia
Daniel Larison is a weekly columnist for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.
All due sympathy toward the Houtis. That said, The Biden administration’s DHS just earlier this week designated the likes of me and millions of other loyal, legal and law-abiding American citizens “domestic terrorists.” While we are under that kind of assault, our relieving the Houtis will have to take distant second place.
The Houthi’s don’t need your sympathy. Designating them as terrorists will create even more starvation than is currently going on. Those added victims are the ones who need your sympathy. Not that disagree with you about the DHS but I can still go buy food. So, I’d just as soon the mass starvation ending being the main priority instead of a “distant second”.
We each pick our battles and rules of engagement. As Will Cain said: “The individual is the ultimate minority.” Meanwhile, buy some extra food while you still can.