{"id":4237,"date":"2021-01-16T02:25:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T02:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=4237"},"modified":"2021-01-16T02:25:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T02:25:43","slug":"why-labeling-yemens-houthis-as-terrorists-could-hurt-millions-of-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=4237","title":{"rendered":"Why labeling Yemen\u2019s Houthis as terrorists could hurt millions of people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“The Trump administration announced its intent to designate the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen as a \u201cforeign terrorist organization\u201d \u2014 a move that could exacerbate one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises.”
…
“The Houthis<\/a>, formally known as Ansar Allah, are an armed rebel group of Zaydi Shia (a minority sect within Shia Islam) who have been fighting a civil war against Yemen\u2019s Saudi-backed government since 2014. That civil war morphed into an international one in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and several of its allies in the Gulf decided to intervene militarily in the civil war, waging war against the Houthis. Meanwhile, Iran, Saudi Arabia\u2019s regional foe, has backed the Houthis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides have launched numerous attacks and committed atrocities. The Saudi-led coalition, for example, killed around 30 children on a bus in 2019<\/a>. The Houthis, meanwhile, launched missiles at an airport and airbase in Saudi Arabia<\/a> in 2019, and at Saudi oil stations last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his statement, Pompeo said the new terrorism designation is \u201cintended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping.\u201d” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since 2015, the US has supported the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s war in Yemen against the Houthis. It has helped coalition forces push back on Iran, the Houthis\u2019 main supplier for weapons and funds. Until November 2018, the US refueled Saudi warplanes<\/a> that dropped bombs on Yemen \u2014 many of which killed civilians, including children<\/a>. Now the US mostly helps the Saudis gather intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire war has been a disaster. The United Nations estimated in December that about 233,000 people<\/a> have died since fighting began, mostly from indirect causes such as lack of food, water, health services, and more. Meanwhile, another roughly 24 million Yemenis<\/a> require assistance to stay alive and fend off diseases like cholera.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One way those in need get help is through humanitarian organizations. The Houthis control Yemen\u2019s north, and it\u2019s impossible for those organizations to operate there without the Houthis\u2019 approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the US follows through on designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization, then it will be harder for those groups to offer support for fear of possible prosecution by the US government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, \u201chumanitarian assistance is likely going to be dramatically scaled back,\u201d said Scott Paul, the humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam. He added that the designation will likely scare off foreign businesses, investors, and banks, thus further decimating Yemen\u2019s reeling economy. \u201cServices will become less available, goods more expensive, and people\u2019s ability to pay less possible,\u201d Scott told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way humanitarian groups have gotten around this predicament before is by asking the US government to provide waivers for them. Basically, the waivers say, \u201cAs long as you ensure you\u2019re not helping the designated terrorist, you can continue operating as you have been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Pompeo\u2019s Sunday statement<\/a> suggests the US hasn\u2019t designed those waivers yet. \u201cThe United States recognizes concerns that these designations will have an impact on the humanitarian situation in Yemen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are planning to put in place measures to reduce their impact on certain humanitarian activity and imports into Yemen.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“\u201cWhile the Houthis share much blame, alongside the Saudi\/UAE-led coalition, for horrific human rights violations in Yemen, the designations do nothing to address these concerns,\u201d reads the current letter, which is scheduled for release later this week or early next week. \u201cThey will, however, prevent the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance to millions of innocent people, greatly hurt the prospects for a negotiated settlement to the conflict, and further undermine U.S. national security interests in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altogether, the real losers of the FTO designation won\u2019t be the Houthis. It\u2019ll be the millions of Yemenis already struggling to stay alive because of the war the US participated in.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2021\/1\/11\/22224799\/yemen-houthi-terrorist-pompeo-humanitarian<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Trump administration announced its intent to designate the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen as a \u201cforeign terrorist organization\u201d \u2014 a move that could exacerbate one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, are an armed rebel group of Zaydi Shia (a minority sect within Shia Islam) who have been fighting a civil war against Yemen\u2019s Saudi-backed government since 2014. That civil war morphed into an international one in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and several of its allies in the Gulf decided to intervene militarily in the civil war, waging war against the Houthis. Meanwhile, Iran, Saudi Arabia\u2019s regional foe, has backed the Houthis.
\nBoth sides have launched numerous attacks and committed atrocities. The Saudi-led coalition, for example, killed around 30 children on a bus in 2019. The Houthis, meanwhile, launched missiles at an airport and airbase in Saudi Arabia in 2019, and at Saudi oil stations last year.<\/p>\n

In his statement, Pompeo said the new terrorism designation is \u201cintended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping.\u201d” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Since 2015, the US has supported the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s war in Yemen against the Houthis. It has helped coalition forces push back on Iran, the Houthis\u2019 main supplier for weapons and funds. Until November 2018, the US refueled Saudi warplanes that dropped bombs on Yemen \u2014 many of which killed civilians, including children. Now the US mostly helps the Saudis gather intelligence.<\/p>\n

The entire war has been a disaster. The United Nations estimated in December that about 233,000 people have died since fighting began, mostly from indirect causes such as lack of food, water, health services, and more. Meanwhile, another roughly 24 million Yemenis require assistance to stay alive and fend off diseases like cholera.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“One way those in need get help is through humanitarian organizations. The Houthis control Yemen\u2019s north, and it\u2019s impossible for those organizations to operate there without the Houthis\u2019 approval. <\/p>\n

If the US follows through on designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization, then it will be harder for those groups to offer support for fear of possible prosecution by the US government.<\/p>\n

As a result, \u201chumanitarian assistance is likely going to be dramatically scaled back,\u201d said Scott Paul, the humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam. He added that the designation will likely scare off foreign businesses, investors, and banks, thus further decimating Yemen\u2019s reeling economy. \u201cServices will become less available, goods more expensive, and people\u2019s ability to pay less possible,\u201d Scott told me.<\/p>\n

One way humanitarian groups have gotten around this predicament before is by asking the US government to provide waivers for them. Basically, the waivers say, \u201cAs long as you ensure you\u2019re not helping the designated terrorist, you can continue operating as you have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Pompeo\u2019s Sunday statement suggests the US hasn\u2019t designed those waivers yet. \u201cThe United States recognizes concerns that these designations will have an impact on the humanitarian situation in Yemen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are planning to put in place measures to reduce their impact on certain humanitarian activity and imports into Yemen.\u201d”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“\u201cWhile the Houthis share much blame, alongside the Saudi\/UAE-led coalition, for horrific human rights violations in Yemen, the designations do nothing to address these concerns,\u201d reads the current letter, which is scheduled for release later this week or early next week. \u201cThey will, however, prevent the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance to millions of innocent people, greatly hurt the prospects for a negotiated settlement to the conflict, and further undermine U.S. national security interests in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altogether, the real losers of the FTO designation won\u2019t be the Houthis. It\u2019ll be the millions of Yemenis already struggling to stay alive because of the war the US participated in.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[355,1152,314,156,575,108,619,158,1151],"class_list":["post-4237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-foreign-policy","tag-houthi","tag-international-relations","tag-iran","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-terrorism","tag-united-states","tag-war","tag-yemen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4238,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions\/4238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}