Designation Of Ansar Allah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization – The White House
Fact-Check of the Executive Order:
Legal Authority to Designate Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs):
Accurate: The President, under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA, 8 U.S.C. 1189), has the authority to designate an entity as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). This involves a process where the Secretary of State, in consultation with other officials, makes a formal designation based on established criteria.
Criteria for FTO Designation: The organization must engage in terrorist activities, threaten the security of U.S. nationals or national defense, and meet statutory definitions of terrorism.
Iran’s Support of the Houthis:
Accurate with Context: The Houthis receive support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), which provides arms, training, and financial backing. Iran's involvement is a well-documented aspect of its regional strategy to counter U.S. and Saudi influence.
Clarification: Iran’s support significantly escalated the Houthis’ military capabilities, including their missile and drone technology. This support has been a cornerstone of the conflict in Yemen.
Attacks on U.S. Navy Warships and Regional Targets:
Partially Accurate: While the Houthis have attacked U.S. Navy ships in the past, the claim that they fired on U.S. Navy warships "dozens of times since 2023" lacks publicly available evidence. Incidents of Houthi attacks on U.S. warships are well-documented but are not at the frequency suggested here. Specific details for 2023-2024 would need to be corroborated.
Accurate Claims:
The Houthis have targeted civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, including multiple missile and drone strikes.
The January 2022 attack on the UAE, which included drone strikes on civilian infrastructure, was widely reported and condemned.
Houthi Attacks on Israel (2023):
Unverified: The claim that the Houthis fired “more than 300 projectiles at Israel since October 2023” is not corroborated by publicly available evidence. Historically, the Houthis have declared solidarity with groups opposed to Israel, but direct attacks of this scale require further verification.
Houthi Attacks on Maritime Shipping in Bab al-Mandeb:
Accurate with Clarifications:
The Houthis have targeted commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb, a critical maritime chokepoint, and have been responsible for attacks on Red Sea shipping. These actions disrupt global trade and pose a security risk.
The claim of "more than 100 attacks" is plausible but would need detailed verification to confirm the frequency and scale of these incidents.
Impact on Global Inflation:
Speculative: While disruptions in Bab al-Mandeb can increase shipping costs and contribute to supply chain challenges, linking these directly to “global inflation” is a stretch. Inflation is influenced by multiple factors, including global economic trends, supply chain disruptions, and energy prices.
Termination of USAID Projects with Entities Supporting Houthis:
Accurate with Concerns: The proposed review and termination of USAID partnerships with entities that have relationships with the Houthis reflect an effort to align aid policies with counterterrorism objectives. However:
Humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen often have no choice but to engage with the Houthis to deliver aid. Cutting off these relationships could hinder humanitarian efforts and worsen Yemen’s crisis.
Such policies have been criticized for being overly punitive and for potentially exacerbating civilian suffering.
General Provisions:
Accurate: The provisions align with standard language in executive orders, emphasizing adherence to existing laws, appropriations, and the absence of enforceable rights.
1. "President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order Re-Designating Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization."
Fact-Check: President Trump designated the Houthis (Ansar Allah) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in January 2021, shortly before leaving office. This move was met with criticism from humanitarian organizations and some U.S. allies due to its potential impact on aid delivery in Yemen.
Context: The FTO designation was criticized because it risked exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The Houthis control significant portions of Yemen, and their designation as an FTO made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to operate without legal liability.
2. "Within one month of taking office, the Biden administration reversed the Houthis’ designation."
Fact-Check: This is accurate. In February 2021, the Biden administration removed the Houthis from the FTO list. The stated rationale was to prioritize addressing Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and ensure aid delivery to the millions of people at risk of famine. However, the Biden administration emphasized that this removal did not absolve the Houthis of their actions.
3. "As a result of the Biden administration’s weak policy, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure in partner nations, and attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times."
Fact-Check: The assertion that the Biden administration’s policy directly caused these attacks is misleading. The Houthis had engaged in these actions before their removal from the FTO list. For example:
In 2016, the Houthis fired missiles at U.S. Navy warships in the Red Sea, long before the FTO designation under Trump.
The Houthis have consistently launched attacks on civilian infrastructure and maritime targets in the Red Sea and surrounding regions as part of their broader conflict with Saudi Arabia and its coalition.
Context: The Houthis’ actions are driven by their alignment with Iran, their opposition to the Saudi-led coalition, and their strategic interests in controlling Yemen and key maritime chokepoints. These behaviors are not new or unique to the Biden administration's policies.
4. "The Executive Order directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with others, to recommend the re-designation of the Houthis within 30 days."
Fact-Check: The re-designation of the Houthis as an FTO is a policy choice with significant implications. Critics argue that it could hinder humanitarian aid efforts in Yemen, as the Houthis control large portions of the country and aid groups must engage with them to operate effectively. This recommendation would likely reignite debates over balancing counterterrorism with humanitarian concerns.
5. "Under President Trump, it is now the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea."
Fact-Check: This statement reflects Trump administration policy. The U.S. has long collaborated with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies to counter the Houthis as part of broader efforts to limit Iran's influence in the region. However, this approach faced criticism for exacerbating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and failing to achieve a decisive resolution to the conflict.
6. "Following the Houthis’ re-designation as an FTO, the Executive Order also directs the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Secretary of State to jointly review United Nations partners, nongovernmental organizations, and contractors operating in Yemen."
Fact-Check: This directive aligns with the Trump administration's emphasis on ensuring that U.S. funds and aid do not inadvertently support groups designated as terrorist organizations. However, past FTO designations raised significant concerns:
Aid organizations argued that such policies impeded their ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, as they must often negotiate access with the Houthis to operate in Yemen.
Critics noted that such reviews could delay or block aid delivery to millions of Yemenis in dire need, worsening the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
7. "Following this review, the President will direct USAID to end its relationship with entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis while turning a blind eye towards the Houthis’ terrorism and abuses."
Fact-Check: While it is reasonable to seek accountability for entities that fund terrorist activities, humanitarian organizations often have no choice but to engage with the Houthis to deliver aid. Cutting off these relationships entirely could worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The Trump administration’s policies were criticized for prioritizing counterterrorism objectives over humanitarian considerations.
Key Takeaways:
Houthis’ Actions: The Houthis have engaged in hostile actions against U.S. interests and regional partners for years, largely independent of U.S. policy changes. Their behavior is influenced by their ties to Iran and their role in Yemen’s civil war, not solely by U.S. designations.
Humanitarian Concerns: Re-designating the Houthis as an FTO risks complicating humanitarian aid delivery in Yemen, a country already facing catastrophic famine and conflict.
Policy Debate: The Trump administration emphasized counterterrorism and regional security, while the Biden administration prioritized mitigating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Both approaches have trade-offs, and neither has resolved the broader conflict in Yemen.
Misleading Attribution: The claim that the Biden administration’s policy directly caused an increase in Houthi attacks oversimplifies the situation and ignores the group’s longstanding behavior.