Why Washington May Side With Yemen's New Anti-American Rulers

posted on: Jan 29, 2015

Recall the U.S. ambassador from Sana’a and close the embassy there, or keep going as if the storm is about to pass? This isn’t a cliffhanger plot from the show “Madam Secretary” but an actual debate now raging in Washington in the wake of the fall of Yemen’s capital to the Houthi rebels. The American ambassador, Matthew Tueller, decided to stay, but the embassy was closed “until further notice.” When the Houthis, who took Sana’a in September, are shouting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” best watch out.

But Yemen’s new rulers, who receive direct aid from Iran — as Ali Shirazi, a representative of the Qods Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards pointed out — are also America’s “natural partner” in its war against Al-Qaida. This week, for the first time this year, the Americans launched a drone that struck a group of Al-Qaida militants in the south of the country, and there was no response from the Houthis. This is the bizarre paradox now facing the U.S. administration, which had enjoyed the full cooperation of the previous Yemeni regime and its president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who resigned last week.

Now the administration could end up embracing the Houthi regime, with whom it sees eye to eye in the war on Al-Qaida. But this paradox is growing increasingly knotty. America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, which is also struggling against radical terrorist organizations, views the Houthis as an agent of Iran, which it fears aims to establish a Lebanon-like state on its border.

As President Obama performs a delicate tango with Saudi Arabia’s new monarch, King Salman, the critical question facing Washington is this: Does the United States stand with the Houthis against Al-Qaida, i.e., on the side of Iran and against Saudi Arabia? And, if that is the case, how can Washington expect Saudi Arabia’s cooperation in its war against Islamic State (also known as ISIS and ISIL)? A partial answer to this question came from Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers, who said there is intelligence cooperation with the Houthis against Al-Qaida and that the war against terror in Yemen will go on as planned.

Source: www.haaretz.com