National Security Online Resource Center

Every since the Christmas day undie-bomber Yemen has come increasingly under the spotlight. Many are already calling it a failed state, citing the strangle hold Al Qaeda seems to have over the country. But there is another problem, one that is mostly only mentioned in passing, the Houthi Shias. The Houthis are a religious minority in the predominately Sunni Yemen, and for the past 5 years they have been waging a war against Yemen and in the last couple of years, southern Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have recently claimed victory over the Houthis who have been occupying a town in southern SA for the past several months. The Houthis claim to be oppressed for their religious beliefs and are claiming northwestern Yemen and parts of southern Saudi Arabia as their homeland. This recent conflict between the Houthi and the Saudis is just a small part of the greater conflict between the Houthis and Yemen. The question remains, Will the Saudis be willing to assist Yemen in defeating the Houthis? Or are they merely considered with their own territorial well being?

It is rather interesting to witness the late arrival of Yemen to the discussion of American security threats. Yemen’s instability has been long known but when the Christmas bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said that he received assistance from an Al-Queda branch in Yemen, the small, poor country showed up on the map. President Obama announced a doubling of U.S. monetary assistance to Yemen. So including this new addition, the United States is now deeply involved in 5 Muslim countries. The other countries include: Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. So we must ask at least the question: Where do we draw the line?

American presence is vital to these countries’ security and to ours. I am not questioning that notion and I understand the desire to increase our presence in Yemen. Yet have we fully thought about all of the options. Do we need to increase our presence in any country to solve our problem? I know it won’t make much sense to most to do nothing and to suggest doing less seems blasphemous. It maybe that we need to do more, but are we sure that the answer isn’t doing less?

Other than the President’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, on security matters, the administration has been largely responsive, rather than proactive. Key initiatives have failed to get anywhere (Israel-Palestine, Guantanamo). So does the United States have a long-term strategic plan for dealing with Middle East rather than being responsive to a series of crises? If so, why hasn’t the President outlined this initiative? With President Bush, at least we were certain of his foreign policy mindset. With President Obama, nothing seems clear.