Former Army special forces commander Robert Greenway joins “America’s Newsroom” to discuss his take on the Biden administration’s decision to relist the Houthis as a terror group. The Biden administration’s decision to redesignate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist group still misses the mark and undermines the point of the designation, an expert told Digital. “This is a bait and switch,” said Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former National Security Council official. “Get the media to write that they’re relisting the Houthis as a terrorist group while obscuring their decision not to relist the group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).”
Goldberg explains that the Biden administration wants to legitimize the Houthis enough to be part of the governing structure in Yemen, which is why they avoid giving them FTO status. The administration believes that FTO status would put too much pressure on the Houthis. Instead, they have chosen to relist them as a terrorist group on the specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) list. The decision comes in response to the Houthis’ repeated attacks on international trading ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which have been deemed a violation of international law and a major threat to global commerce and humanitarian assistance.
Despite previous strikes by the U.S. and the United Kingdom against Houthi assets in Yemen, the attacks on commercial ships have not stopped. The group claims that these attacks are in response to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Trump administration had designated the Houthis as an FTO in January 2021 after an attack on the airport in Aden. However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reversed the decision the following month, citing the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.
To mitigate the impact of the terrorist designation on Yemen’s access to basic commodities like food and fuel, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued several counterterrorism general licenses. These licenses allow for certain actions, such as the provision of agricultural commodities, medicine, telecommunications, and refined petroleum products.
Critics argue that the Biden administration’s decision to relist the Houthis as terrorists but not on the FTO list is inadequate. House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner, for instance, called for the administration to label the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, emphasizing the need for decisive action.
The Biden administration defends its decision, stating that the SDGT designation provides better flexibility to achieve foreign policy aims while safeguarding humanitarian assistance. They believe that further action beyond the SDGT designation could potentially worsen the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
The article concludes by noting that the decision has drawn criticism from some congressional members, and the State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Overall, the article highlights the concerns surrounding the Biden administration’s decision to relist the Houthis as a terror group and the ongoing debate over the appropriate designation for the group.
