To: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Donald Trump
Tell @realDonaldTrump: Yemen's Houthis Are Not Iran Proxies
Just Foreign Policy
End the Saudi war in Yemen. Hundreds of thousands of children face starvation. Yemen's Houthis are not Iran proxies.
Why is this important?
Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children are nearing starvation. U.S.-backed Saudi airstrikes near Hodeida - the main entry point for food, medicine and humanitarian aid into northern Yemen - are blocking the delivery of supplies. The way to save these children is to silence the guns, so desperately needed aid can get through. [1]
Unfortunately, President Trump is escalating the Saudi war against Houthi rebels in Yemen instead of ending it, thinking this is a proxy war against Iran. But Yemen's Houthis are not proxies of Iran. Joost Hilterman of the International Crisis Group states that "very little hard evidence has turned up of Iranian support to the Houthis," while U.S. military support to the Saudis "exceeds by many factors any amount of support the Houthis have received from Tehran." Hiltermann notes the Houthis "are motivated primarily by a domestic agenda" and "Iran does not control their decision-making." He says the way to handle the Houthis is not to "continue an unwinnable war" but to "push Yemeni parties back to the negotiating table." [2]
Urge Trump and Congress to save Yemeni children from starvation and end the war by signing our petition.
References:
1. "Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children are nearing starvation," Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, February 24
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hundreds-of-thousands-of-yemeni-children-are-nearing-starvation/2017/02/23/f01ead8a-f850-11e6-aa1e-5f735ee31334_story.html
2. "The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah: Donald Trump wants to ramp up Yemen's proxy fight against Iran. One small problem: Tehran doesn't really have a proxy there," Joost Hilterman, Foreign Policy, February 27 http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/27/the-houthis-are-not-hezbollah/
Unfortunately, President Trump is escalating the Saudi war against Houthi rebels in Yemen instead of ending it, thinking this is a proxy war against Iran. But Yemen's Houthis are not proxies of Iran. Joost Hilterman of the International Crisis Group states that "very little hard evidence has turned up of Iranian support to the Houthis," while U.S. military support to the Saudis "exceeds by many factors any amount of support the Houthis have received from Tehran." Hiltermann notes the Houthis "are motivated primarily by a domestic agenda" and "Iran does not control their decision-making." He says the way to handle the Houthis is not to "continue an unwinnable war" but to "push Yemeni parties back to the negotiating table." [2]
Urge Trump and Congress to save Yemeni children from starvation and end the war by signing our petition.
References:
1. "Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children are nearing starvation," Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, February 24
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/hundreds-of-thousands-of-yemeni-children-are-nearing-starvation/2017/02/23/f01ead8a-f850-11e6-aa1e-5f735ee31334_story.html
2. "The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah: Donald Trump wants to ramp up Yemen's proxy fight against Iran. One small problem: Tehran doesn't really have a proxy there," Joost Hilterman, Foreign Policy, February 27 http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/27/the-houthis-are-not-hezbollah/