The Patriot Post® · Why Yemen Matters

Charles Krauthammer: “This week, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized control of the Yemeni government, heretofore pro-American. … The Houthi have local religious grievances, being Shiites in a majority Sunni land. But they are also agents of Shiite Iran, which arms, trains and advises them. Their slogan – ‘God is great. Death to America. Death to Israel’ – could have been written in Persian. Why should we care about the coup? First, because we depend on Yemen’s government to support our drone war against another local menace, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It’s not clear if we can even maintain our embassy in Yemen, let alone conduct operations against AQAP. And second, because growing Iranian hegemony is a mortal threat to our allies and interests in the entire Middle East. … Our regional allies – Saudi Arabia, the other five Gulf states, Jordan, Egypt and Israel – are deeply worried. Tehran is visibly on the march on the ground and openly on the march to nuclear status. And their one great ally, their strategic anchor for two generations, is acquiescing to both.”