The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Navy</a> stopped a fishing boat attempting to smuggle over 2,000 AK-47s from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran</a> to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/yemen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yemen</a>, according to the Navy Forces Central Command.
The Friday incident occurred in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman when the patrol coastal ship USS Chinook boarded and seized the weapons with the assistance of other naval vessels.
“This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran,” <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/436495/us-navy-intercepts-more-than-2000-assault-rifles-shipped-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.
“These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security,&#8221; he added.
The transfer of weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law, the Navy reported. The transfer of the vessel and six crew members is in progress.
The apprehension marks the third recent fishing vessel intercepted attempting to provide lethal aid from Iran to Yemen through the Gulf of Oman, according to the Navy.
On December 1, naval forces seized more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and propellants for rockets. On November 8, naval forces and a U.S. Coast Guard vessel stopped a boat carrying over 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, a substance the Navy called &#8220;a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel,&#8221; seized alongside 100 tons of urea fertilizer.
The Houthis are a rebel group fighting a long-time civil war against Yemen&#8217;s recognized government. It has also been called a <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/01/10/us-navy-ships-caught-fishing-boat-smuggling-over-2000-ak-47-rifles-iran.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proxy war</a> between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as the Saudis support the national government.
Iran has long supported the Houthis, a Zaydi Shiite movement in conflict with Yemen&#8217;s government since 2004. The group <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/who-are-yemens-houthis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began</a> in the 1990s in north Yemen as a reaction to Saudi financial influence. The group seized Yemen&#8217;s capital Sanaa in 2014 and parts of northern Yemen in 2016.
Saudi Arabia has opposed the group, with Houthi forces initiating attacks on Saudi soil on numerous occasions. The tensions are also religiously motivated, as the Houthis and Iran&#8217;s government are Shiite Muslims in conflict with Saudi Arabia’s Sunni Muslim majority.
A six-month ceasefire in the Yemen war concluded in October 2022. More than 150,000 people have been <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-navy-says-iranian-assault-rifles-seized-from-yemen-bound-boat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> in the longtime conflict, including 14,500 civilians.
Last month, the European Union challenged the Houthis to end its armed conflict and work with the U.N. to resolve the crisis.
&#8220;The EU urges the Houthis to abandon maximalist positions and engage constructively with the UNSE Grundberg,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221213-eu-calls-on-yemens-houthis-to-abandon-their-extremist-positions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> said. &#8220;The Council also stresses the utmost importance of reinstating and further extending the truce.&#8221;
The EU &#8220;commends the constructive approach of the Yemeni government during the truce and ongoing efforts by regional actors, notably by Saudi Arabia and also Oman, on the extension of the truce,&#8221; the statement added.

U.S. Navy Photo

U.S. Navy Stops Fishing Boat Smuggling 2,000 AK-47s From Iran To Yemen

Global Politics

Iran

U.S. Navy

World

Yemen

An Islamic extremist group reportedly stormed the U.S. Embassy in Yemen on Wednesday, taking hostages and seizing equipment.
Bloomberg News first <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-09/iran-backed-houthis-said-to-detain-25-yemenis-working-for-u-s">reported</a> on Tuesday that Iran-backed Houthi <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/houthis">extremists</a> had taken &#8220;at least 25 Yemenis working for the U.S.&#8221; into custody over the span of a few weeks, including &#8220;Yemenis working for the U.S. embassy and USAID.&#8221;
The Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-backed-militants-storm-us-embassy-in-yemen-seize-hostages-and-equipment/">reported</a> on Thursday that, according to a media watchdog that translates foreign media, local media said that the Houthis had seized equipment from the compound:
<blockquote>A group of Houthi rebels reportedly stormed the U.S. compound on Wednesday seeking &#8220;large quantities of equipment and materials,&#8221; according to regional reports translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The raid comes just five days after the Houthis kidnapped Yemeni nationals who work for the U.S. embassy. &#8220;The alleged raid comes after the Houthis kidnapped three Yemeni nationals affiliated with the U.S. Embassy from one of the employee&#8217;s private residences in Sana&#8217;a on November 5,&#8221; according to MEMRI. At least 22 other Yemenis were kidnapped by the Houthis in recent weeks, &#8220;most of whom worked on the security staff guarding the embassy grounds,&#8221; according to MEMRI.</blockquote>
A State Department spokesperson said that the &#8220;majority&#8221; of hostages have been released, but that some embassy staff  &#8220;continue to be detained without explanation.&#8221;
&#8220;We call on the Houthis to immediately vacate it and return all seized property,&#8221; the spokesman <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-backed-houthi-rebels-detain-yemenis-working-for-us-embassy-compound-breached">said</a>. &#8220;The U.S. government will continue its diplomatic efforts to secure the release of our staff and the vacating of our compound, including through our international partners.&#8221;
The Trump administration <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/terrorist-designation-of-ansarallah-in-yemen/index.html">designated</a> the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under the leadership of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The Biden administration quickly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-civil-wars-yemen-d17b50e3995827838a19fb8bd09e9f64">reversed</a> the terrorist designation after taking over earlier this year.
“Biden’s administration is moving to revoke the designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist group, citing the need to mitigate one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters,” The Associated Press reported on February 5. “A State Department official confirmed the move Friday after members of Congress were notified of the administration’s plans. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the removal changed nothing about the Biden administration’s views of the Houthis, who have targeted civilians and kidnapped Americans.”
The Houthis &#8220;have received training and military equipment from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),&#8221; the Counter Terrorism Project <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/houthis">reported</a>. &#8220;According to the Saudi ambassador to the United States, the &#8216;first thing the Houthis did when they entered and occupied Sanaa was to free Iranian Revolutionary Guards operatives and Hezbollah operatives from the jails.&#8217; The Iranian ship Jihan I was seized allegedly en route to Yemen in 2013 with arms meant for the Houthis.&#8221;
Related:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/houthi-missile-attack-kills-dozens-of-civilians-comes-after-biden-removed-terror-designation-on-group">Houthi Missile Attack Kills Dozens Of Civilians, Comes After Biden Removed Terror Designation On Group</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-already-struggling-on-international-stage-as-expert-warns-he-may-be-making-middle-east-war-worse">Biden Already Struggling On International Stage As Expert Warns He May Be Making Middle East War Worse</a></li>
</ul>
This report has been updated to included additional information.

YEMEN-SANAA-PROTEST-U.S. EMBASSY

Iranian-Backed Extremists Storm U.S. Embassy In Yemen, Take Hostages And Seize Equipment: Reports

President Joe Biden is already showing early warning signs that he is struggling on the international stage, particularly in the Middle East, where a national security expert warns that Biden might be making a war in the region worse by his policies.
The Biden administration announced last month that it was reversing the Trump administration&#8217;s decision to designate the Yemeni Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The Council on Foreign Relations <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/biden-and-houthis">noted</a>:
<blockquote>The main defense of the Trump administration decision to call the Houthis terrorists is that they repeatedly commit acts of terrorism. QED. And the main critique of the Biden administration’s revocation of that decision is equally simple: the Houthis have long committed, and continue to commit, acts of terror. They should be designated an FTO because they are an FTO.</blockquote>
Not only did Biden lift the terrorist designation on the Yemeni Houthis, he also announced last month that the U.S. would no longer support Saudi Arabia&#8217;s war against the terrorists.
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biden-yemen-int/biden-ends-u-s-support-for-saudi-arabia-in-yemen-says-war-has-to-end-idUSKBN2A4268">reported</a> last month:
<blockquote>
Biden &#8230; declared a halt to U.S. support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen, demanding that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, “has to end.” &#8230;
“This war has to end,” the Democratic president said during a visit to the U.S. State Department in Washington. “And to underscore our commitment, we’re ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
The move is a reversal of a policy of both the Democratic Obama and Republican Trump administrations. Biden was vice president in the Obama administration.</blockquote>
However, the Biden administration signaled this week that it is growing increasingly alarmed over the acts of terrorism that the Houthis carried out against Saudi Arabia over the weekend, which included firing missiles and drones at a Saudi facility vital to oil exports, according to a separate Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-saudi/u-s-alarmed-by-frequency-of-attacks-on-saudi-after-houthis-target-oil-heartland-idUSKBN2B01CM?utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=twitter">report</a>.
“We continue to be alarmed by the frequency of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Escalating attacks like these are not the actions of a group that is serious about peace,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “We understand that they face genuine security threats from Yemen and others in the region&#8230;We will look for ways to improve support for Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend its territory against threats.”
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNBC on Tuesday that Biden&#8217;s desire to end Saudi Arabia&#8217;s war in Yemen might be making the entire situation worse.
CNBC notes:
<blockquote>Schanzer said Biden’s move will not help end the war in Yemen because the U.S. does not have concessions to offer to the Houthis, who now have less incentive than before to make compromises.</blockquote>
“In fact, if anything, I think this is likely to make the conflict grow worse,” Schanzer said. “What the Biden administration has done is, it has taken the military option off the table for the United States, even by way of proxy through the Saudis.”
“The reality that we are now facing is that we’ve taken really all of our other leverage off the table, and we’re simply going to hope that an Iran-backed militia will come to the table and act reasonably,” Schanzer added. “Unfortunately, I think this is wishful thinking.”
Former Obama Secretary of Defense Robert Gates <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/13/gates_stands_by_statement_that_biden_has_been_wrong_on_nearly_every_major_foreign_policy_question.html">warned</a> just a couple of years ago that Biden has &#8220;been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.&#8221;

YEMEN-CONFLICT

Biden Already Struggling On International Stage As Expert Warns He May Be Making Middle East War Worse

Joe Biden

Middle East

On Thursday afternoon, Joe Biden spoke from the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C., delivering the first foreign policy speech of his presidency.
The legacy media unsurprisingly fawned over Biden’s words. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-diplomacy/america-is-back-biden-touts-muscular-foreign-policy-in-first-diplomatic-speech-idUSKBN2A501J">reported</a> “‘America is back’ &#8211; Biden touts muscular foreign policy in first diplomatic speech.” Slate <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/biden-foreign-policy-state-dept.html">wrote</a> “After Trump, Biden’s Clichés Sound Revolutionary: The president said all the right things in his first foreign policy speech. That’s enough for now, but not for long.” The Washington Post published a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/04/with-his-foreign-policy-speech-biden-begins-repair-damage-that-trump-did/">piece</a> titled “With his foreign policy speech, Biden begins to repair the damage that Trump did.”
What did Biden actually <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/04/remarks-by-president-biden-on-americas-place-in-the-world/">say</a> during his first foray into foreign policy since returning to the White House, this time as President of the United States? Here’s everything you need to know:
‘America is back’
Soon after beginning his speech, and immediately after commending Secretary of State Tony Blinken as someone whose “diplomatic skills are respected equally by your friends and our competitors around the world,” Biden launched into “the message I want the world to hear today.”
<blockquote>“America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy.”</blockquote>
Alliances
Then, Biden called for what he deemed damaged global alliances to be repaired, and appeared to criticize the supposedly isolationist or nationalist approach of the previous administration.
<blockquote>“As I said in my inaugural address, we will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again, not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.”</blockquote>
China and Russia
While plaudits celebrated Biden for “calling out Russia,” he only mentioned the country briefly, and in the context of their “determination” to impact American democracy. Similarly, his language regarding China, while mentioned in the context of authoritarianism, was limited to their “growing ambitions.”
“American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival the United States and the determination of Russia to damage and disrupt our democracy.”
Later, on the subject of “leading with diplomacy” in the context of American “adversaries and competitors,” Biden discussed the extension of a nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia.
<blockquote>“By leading with diplomacy, we must also mean engaging our adversaries and our competitors diplomatically, where it’s in our interest, and advance the security of the American people.
That’s why, yesterday, the United States and Russia agreed to extend the New START Treaty for five years to preserve the only remaining treaty between our countries safeguarding nuclear stability.”</blockquote>
Biden then spoke more firmly on the subject of Russia’s “aggressive actions,” saying that “the days of the United States rolling over” are over.
<blockquote>“At the same time, I made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions — interfering with our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens — are over.  We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people.  And we will be more effective in dealing with Russia when we work in coalition and coordination with other like-minded partners.
The politically motivated jailing of Alexei Navalny and the Russian efforts to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are a matter of deep concern to us and the international community.  
Mr. Navalny, like all Russian citizens, is entitled to his rights under the Russian constitution.  He’s been targeted — targeted for exposing corruption.  He should be released immediately and without condition.”</blockquote>
Biden went on to briefly address the issues posed by China, while being careful to describe them with language he has used previously: “competitor.”
<blockquote>“And we’ll also take on directly the challenges posed by our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China.  
We’ll confront China’s economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China’s attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance.”</blockquote>
Global challenges and cooperation
In the same way as his Democratic predecessors, Biden referenced the urgent need to “meet” global “challenges.”
<blockquote>“We must meet the new moment accelerating glo- — accelerating global challenges — from the pandemic to the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation — challenging the will only to be solved by nations working together and in common.  We can’t do it alone.”</blockquote>
Later, Biden appeared to criticize the Trump administration as he boasted of his conversations with multiple leaders of American allies and organizations.
<blockquote>“Over the past two weeks, I’ve spoken with the leaders of many of our closest friends — Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, NATO, Japan, South Korea, Australia — to being [begin] reforming the habits of cooperation and rebuilding the muscle of democratic alliances that have atrophied over the past few years of neglect and, I would argue, abuse.
America’s alliances are our greatest asset, and leading with diplomacy means standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and key partners once again.”</blockquote>
American values
Biden then continued to argue that these global challenges can only be achieved collaboratively, and that any diplomacy must be rooted in “American’s most cherished democratic values.”
<blockquote>“That must be this — we must start with diplomacy rooted in America’s most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.
That’s the grounding wire of our global policy — our global power.  That’s our inexhaustible source of strength.  That’s America’s abiding advantage.”</blockquote>
Burma
Speaking of the military coup which occurred following claims that Myanmar&#8217;s general election was illegitimate — which resulted in Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party being detained — Biden called for the Burmese military to “relinquish the power they have seized,” and that he would work with America’s “partners” to pursue the restoration of democracy.
<blockquote>“Over the past few days, we’ve been in close cooperation with our allies and partners to bring together the international community to address the military coup in Burma.
I’ve also been in touch with Leader McConnell to discuss our shared concerns about the situation in Burma, and we are united in our resolve.  
There can be no doubt: In a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election.  
The Burmese military should relinquish power they have seized, release the advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions on telecommunications, and refrain from violence.
As I said earlier this week, we will work with our partners to support restoration of democracy and the rule of law, and impose consequences on those responsible.”</blockquote>
Climate change
After discussing China and Russia, Biden touched on the subject of climate change, describing it as an “existential threat.”
<blockquote>“On day one, I signed the paperwork to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.  We’re taking steps led by the example of integrating climate objectives across all of our diplomacy and raise the ambition of our climate targets.  That way, we can challenge other nations, other major emitters, up to — to up the ante on their own commitments.  I’ll be hosting climate leaders — a climate leaders’ summit to address the climate crisis on Earth Day of this year.  
America must lead in the face of this existential threat.  And just as with the pandemic, it requires global cooperation.”</blockquote>
COVID-19
In a surprisingly brief note, Biden mentioned that the United States had “reengaged with the World Health Organization” to “build better global preparedness to counter COVID-19, as well as detect and prevent future pandemics, because there will be more.”
Military
Biden then moved on to announce “additional steps to course-correct our foreign policy and better unite our democratic values with our diplomatic leadership.” 
<blockquote>“To begin, Defense Secretary Austin will be leading a Global Posture Review of our forces so that our military footprint is appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities.  It will be coordinated across all elements of our national security, with Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken working in close cooperation.  
And while this review is taking place, we’ll be stopping any planned troop withdrawals from Germany.”</blockquote>
Yemen and Saudi Arabia
A large proportion of Biden’s statements regarding military-related action was dedicated to policies regarding the ongoing war in Yemen.
<blockquote>“We’re also stepping up our diplomacy to end the war in Yemen — a war which has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.  I’ve asked my Middle East team to ensure our support for the United Nations-led initiative to impose a ceasefire, open humanitarian channels, and restore long-dormant peace talks. 
This morning, Secretary Blinken appointed Tim Lenderking, a career foreign policy officer, as our special envoy to the Yemen conflict.  And I appreciate his doing this.  Tim is a life — has lifelong experience in the region, and he’ll work with the U.N. envoy and all parties of the conflict to push for a diplomatic resolution.  
And Tim’s diplomacy will be bolstered by USI- — USAID, working to ensure that humanitarian aid is reaching the Yemeni people who are suffering un- — an undurable [sic] — unendurable devastation.  This war has to end.  
And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.  
At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries.  We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.”</blockquote>
Refugee Executive Order
Moving on, Biden said that we “face a crisis of more than 80 million displaced people suffering all around the world,” and that the American “moral leadership” on refugee issues “pushed other nations to open wide their doors as well.”
<blockquote>“So today, I’m approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need.  It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged, but that’s precisely what we’re going to do. 
This executive order will position us to be able to raise the refugee admissions back up to 125,000 persons for the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris administration.  And I’m directing the State Department to consult with Congress about making a down payment on that commitment as soon as possible.”</blockquote>
LGBTQI refugees and asylum-seekers
On the subject of repairing “moral leadership,” Biden called for the promotion of the rights of LGBTQ refugees and asylum-seekers.
<blockquote>“And to further repair our moral leadership, I’m also issuing a presidential memo to agencies to reinvigorate our leadership on the LGBTQI issues and do it internationally.  You know, we’ll ensure diplomacy and foreign assistance are working to promote the rights of those individuals, included by combatting criminalization and protecting LGBTQ refugees and asylum-seekers. 
And finally, to successfully reassert our diplomacy and keep Americans safe, prosperous, and free, we must restore the health and morale of our foreign policy institutions.”</blockquote>
‘Day One’ actions
Calling for the United States to “lead not just by the example of our power but the power of our example,” Biden celebrated that “Within hours of taking office, I signed an executive order overturning the hateful, discriminatory Muslim ban; reversed the ban on transgender individuals serving in our military.” He continued to list various other actions taken early in his presidency.
White supremacy
Then, Biden moved onto the subject of “white supremacy.” Immediately after boasting that his administration had “restored our commitment to science and to create policies grounded in facts and evidence,” Biden continued to discuss “systemic racism.”
<blockquote>“We’ve taken steps to acknowledge and address systemic racism and the scourge of white supremacy in our own country.  Racial equity will not just be an issue for one department in our administration, it has to be the business of the whole of government in all our federal policies and institutions. 
All this matters to foreign policy, because when we host the Summit of Democracy early in my administration to rally the nations of the world to defend democracy globally, to push back the authoritarianism’s advance, we’ll be a much more credible partner because of these efforts to shore up our own foundations.”</blockquote>
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Yemen, LGBT Refugees, And White Supremacy: Everything You Need To Know About Biden’s First Foreign Policy Speech

Antony Blinken

China

Foreign Policy

Russia

So much of the current narrative driven by the Left insists that America is some “racist, fascist state” bent on oppressing many of its citizens in perpetuity. As a result, extremist notions championed by Antifa and BLM activists has gained tremendous traction in recent months. But when compared with actual state-sponsored brutality and oppression in places like China and elsewhere, this prevailing narrative is exposed as hyperbole. In reality, so much of the social unrest and virulent activism in our nation is a product of a staggering amount of moral and cognitive dissonance. Here are eight ongoing crises occurring around the world that are truly worthy of public outcry and condemnation.
1. Despotism in Belarus
The Left assails President Trump as some “fascist” with no real evidence outside of hysterics. Alexander Lukashenko, however, is very much a dictator since taking over Belarus in 1994 and is wholly deserving of international censure.
“After he won election,” The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/belarus-protests-alexander-lukashenko-faces-democratic-uprising/">National Review</a> details, “he quickly turned Belarus — which had enjoyed democracy for a scant three years — into a personal fief. He took control of the courts, the banks, the universities, and so on. The Belarusian intelligence agency works for him, strictly. Charmingly, it is the only such agency in the post–Soviet Union to retain the old name: ‘KGB.’”
Often referred to as “the last dictator in Europe,” Lukashenko considers democracy “hare-brained” and continues to quell it at every opportunity.
Writing for <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/518121-russian-forces-are-now-in-belarus">The Hill</a>, Frederick Kagan adds: “There is no doubt that Lukashenko is a dictator. He stole the most recent election, he suppressed peaceful protesters, and expelled or imprisoned opposition leaders.”
Lukashenko’s barbarism is most evident against his own people who have risen in opposition by the thousands in legitimate protest against the dictator.
The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53773534">BBC reports</a> that detained protestors were “lying on the floor of a detention centre, piled on top of each other, in a pool of blood and excrement. They were not allowed to use the toilet for hours on end or even change position.”
2. The ongoing genocide in China
In a bold and courageous move, the Trump administration is considering a formal declaration of genocide as China’s Marxist regime continues to commit untold atrocities against the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-forces-imprisoned-uighurs-to-work-in-factories-for-apple-nike-amid-coronavirus-crisis">Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang</a>.
In a statement given to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-administration-chinas-oppression-uighur-muslims-genocide-report">Fox News</a>, the White House National Security Council presented its case in no uncertain terms:
“Beijing’s atrocities against the Uighurs include horrific acts against women including forced abortion, forced sterilization and other coercive birth control methods, state-sponsored forced labor, sexual violence including through rape in detention, compulsory home-stays by Han officials, and forced marriages…The Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities also include the largest incarceration of an ethnic minority since World War II.”
The situation remains dire and is fast beginning to echo atrocities of the past as “More than a million Uighurs are believed to be held” in concentration camps, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/trump-administration-china-genocide-uighurs-401581">Politico</a>:
“White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien has <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-security-adviser-decries-world-silence-china-camps">accused</a> China’s communist leaders of running  ‘concentration camps’ for Uighurs in Xinjiang, a northwestern province home to millions of Uighurs. A member of a United Nations human rights panel said in 2018 that China had ‘turned the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp,’ where people are held without charge and little recourse to get legal representation to be released.”
The Chinese regime continues to deny any wrongdoing as an avalanche of evidence mounts against them and as the genocide continues virtually unabated. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/china-has-built-380-internment-camps-in-xinjiang-study-finds?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1">The Guardian</a> recently reported, “China has built nearly 400 internment camps in Xinjiang region.”
Meanwhile, many on the Left including the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-hypocrisy-on-china-haunts-nbas-woke-restart">NBA</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/toto-ask-no-questions-shows-horrors-of-communist-china-lebron-james-should-take-notice">Hollywood</a> remain silent on the atrocities and continue to do the biddings of the Chinese government while accusing America of imagined crimes such as systemic racism and “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-a-closer-look-at-the-lefts-flawed-white-privilege-narrative">white privilege</a>.”
3. Slavery in parts of Africa
Far from being some pockmark of the past, slavery continues to exist in many parts of the world. It remains most prevalent in parts of Africa, with some Arab states close behind.
“Slavery was especially prevalent in Eritrea and Mauritania,” <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1333946/global-slavery-index-africa-has-the-highest-rate-of-modern-day-slavery-in-the-world/">Quartz</a> reported, “where slavery has even been, at times, an institutionalized practice. In Eritrea, for instance, the one-party state of president Isaias Afwerki has overseen a notorious national conscription service accused of drafting citizens for an indefinite period, contributing to the wave of refugees <a href="https://qz.com/1215813/photos-eritrea-and-sudan-migrants-paint-faces-white-to-protest-rwanda-deportation/">fleeing the country</a>. Workers that have claimed that they were <a href="https://qz.com/794955/eritrean-workers-are-suing-nevsun-resources-a-canadian-mining-company-for-using-them-as-forced-labor/">forced to work</a> in the nation’s first modern mine are also <a href="https://qz.com/803732/eritrean-forced-labor-workers-will-be-able-to-sue-canadas-nevsun-mining-company-in-british-columbia-court/">currently suing</a> the Vancouver-based mining company Nevsun that owns a majority stake in the mine.”
Slavery is most commonplace in Mauritania where it has yet to be abolished and where “slave status” is often “inherited.”
Globally, slavery remains a profound crisis, according to <a href="https://time.com/longform/african-slave-trade/">Time</a>, and not some “relic of history.” In fact, “there are more than three times as many people in forced servitude today as were captured and sold during the 350-year span of the transatlantic slave trade.” Slavery also continues to be a highly profitable endeavor in the underworld, “earning criminal networks $150 billion a year.”
4. The humanitarian crisis in Yemen
As a Saudi-led coalition continues to besiege Yemen due, in part, to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)">country’s ongoing civil war</a>, a staggering humanitarian crisis has emerged:
“[S]ince the start of the year,” <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1065292">UN News</a> reports, “some 80,000 more people were forced from their homes, bringing the total displaced to almost four million; cholera continues to threaten lives with 110,000 people contracting it so far this year; and recent floods have raised the risk of malaria and dengue fever.”
Even more tragic, 85,000 children and counting have now died from starvation as the Saudi-led coalition has “strangled civilian access to food, fuel, aid and commercial goods,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/yemen-young-children-dead-starvation-disease-save-the-children">The Guardian</a> reported in late 2018.
5. The end of freedom in Hong Kong
Protesters in Hong Kong continue to struggle for the very freedom the Left takes for granted here in our nation under the oppressive onslaught of the Chinese regime. According to <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/hong-kong-freedom">City Journal</a>, hope remains at a premium:
“Beijing has now acted to impose a new security law on Hong Kong, turning its back on the ‘one country, two systems’ agreement to which it had committed when the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997. Hong Kong will be subject to the same sort of draconian infringements on liberty as mainland China, following a year of street protests demanding just the opposite.”
China’s despotic will against the people of Hong Kong now means an end to “free markets and individual liberties.” The erosion of freedoms set to ensue also includes severe restrictions on “churches, synagogues, museums, charities, and independent private schools.”
The <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/hong-kong-protesters-fight-for-ideals-that-built-civilization/">National Review</a> doesn’t mince words when discussing the current dire state of affairs in Hong Kong:
“China’s goal is to emphatically crush all dissent and any hint of free speech in Hong Kong. It even seeks to muzzle companies in the West that do business with China and Hong Kong. In other words, Hong Kong’s Western-style freedoms and institutions are coming to an end.”
6. The collapse of Syria
Almost a decade of civil war has decimated Syria. <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/syria?version=145">The Heritage Foundation</a> offers a brief overview of Bashar al-Assad’s inglorious rise to power as well as the consequences of the war:
“The Assad family has ruled Syria since Hafez al-Assad’s military coup in 1970. Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000 but failed to keep his promises to open the socialist economy and ease political repression. A brutal crackdown after 2011’s Arab Spring protests sparked an armed uprising against Assad that by 2012 had become a sectarian civil war between the predominantly Sunni rebels and the Alawite-dominated regime. Assad’s regime, supported by Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah, has largely defeated the fractured armed opposition. The conflict has killed more than 500,000 Syrians and driven nearly 5.5 million refugees out of the country. Syria’s economy declined by more than 70 percent from 2010 to 2017.”
While the brutal civil war is all but over, a hard and treacherous road lies ahead for the Syrian people under Bashar al-Assad including a collapsed economy and a country in ruins.
“President Bashar al-Assad, who has mostly won Syria’s civil war,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/world/middleeast/syria-economy-assad-makhlouf.html">The New York Times</a>, “now faces an acute economic crisis that has impoverished his people, brought about the collapse of the currency and fueled a rare public rift in the ruling elite.”
The authoritarian grip al-Assad relied upon to crush his opposition is proving ineffectual in the face of Syria’s economic woes now that “he cannot bomb his way out” of the crisis. Worse, “[a]n estimated 80 percent of Syrians live in poverty” only adding to the very real potential of Syria becoming a failed state.
7. The emergence of alleged concentration camps in Tibet
Tibet’s long and arduous struggle for independence from China is <a href="https://time.com/longform/dalai-lama-60-year-exile/">well-documented</a>. <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/xi-orders-increased-tibet-repression-to-fight-splittism/">The National Review</a> provides a concise summary:
“Tibet has been under this hegemonic boot since China invaded the country in 1950. But despite decades of repression, Tibetan Buddhism has not yet yielded to its own destruction, and indeed, the country continues to resist the occupiers. Now, the tyrant Xi Jinping has ordered his brutalizing forces to redouble their efforts to crush the supposed Buddhist threat…”
Now allegations have emerged that China’s Marxist regime is forcing Tibetans into concentration camps in a manner identical to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, as detailed by <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-forces-500-000-tibetans-into-labour-camps-20200922-p55xyk.html">The Sydney Morning Herald</a>:
“New evidence suggests the Chinese government now has a large-scale mandatory ‘vocational training’ program in Tibet, pushing more than 500,000 rural labourers into recently built military-style training centres in the first seven months of this year alone.”
The evidence also includes “enforced indoctrination, intrusive surveillance, and harsh punishments” against the Tibetan people.
8. Venezuela continues to implode under Socialist rule
Venezuela embodies the failures of socialism to a fatiguing degree. Corruption is legion and the economy continues to plummet with seemingly no end in sight. <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/venezuela?version=1022">The Heritage Foundation</a> reports:
“Venezuela’s modern democratic era lasted from the end of military rule in 1959 until the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, completed the destruction of democratic institutions and established a repressive authoritarian dictatorship in 2017. The deeply corrupt socialist government’s policies have caused hyperinflation and severe shortages of basic goods that have led to one of the worst economic contractions in history and Latin America’s worst migration crisis.”
Most recently, Maduro has now defined anyone with possible exposure to COVID-19 a “bioterrorist,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/world/americas/coronavirus-venezuela.html">The New York Times</a>, and is wielding his oppressive might “by deploying his repressive security apparatus” against his own people in some vain, draconian attempt to combat the novel virus.
“In commandeered hotels, disused schools and cordoned-off bus stations,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/world/americas/coronavirus-venezuela.html">The New York Times</a> reports, “Venezuelans returning home from other countries in Latin America are being forced into crowded rooms with limited food, water or masks. And they are being held under military guard for weeks or months for coronavirus tests or treatment with unproven medications, according to interviews with the detainees, videos they have taken on their cellphones and government documents.”

Portland Flag Burning

KHAN: Leftists Trash America While The World Faces True Crises: 8 Examples

Belarus

Hong Kong

Syria

The U.S. military launched a secret operation to kill a second high-ranking Iranian terrorist last week on the same day that President Donald Trump authorized a drone strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Forces (IRGC-QF) Commander Qassem Soleimani.
&#8220;The disclosure of a second mission indicated that the Trump administration was attempting to target a larger set of Iranian military and paramilitary leaders than was previously known,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/world/middleeast/trump-iran-yemen.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The unsuccessful airstrike in Yemen was aimed at Abdul Reza Shahlai, an official with Iran’s Quds Force, a potent paramilitary organization. He was known as a key financier for Iran’s proxy wars.&#8221;
The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials said that details of the mission remain &#8220;highly classified&#8221; and suggested that Shahlai could be re-targeted again in the future.
&#8220;Another senior official said the two strikes were authorized around the same time and that the United States did not disclose the Shahlai mission because it did not go according to plan,&#8221; The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-the-day-us-forces-killed-soleimani-they-launched-another-secret-operation-targeting-a-senior-iranian-official-in-yemen/2020/01/10/60f86dbc-3245-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The official said Shahlai may be targeted in the future, though both countries have signaled an interest in de-escalating the crisis.&#8221;
One top U.S. official told The Post, “If we had killed him, we’d be bragging about it that same night.”
The U.S. State Department announced a $15 million reward last month for information leading to Shahlai and the disruption of the IRGC&#8217;s financial networks.
Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative on Iran, <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2019/dec/05/state-department-protest-crackdown-intervention-yemen">said</a> last month that &#8220;Shahlai has a long history of attacks Americans and our allies globally.&#8221;
&#8220;He planned multiple assassinations of coalition forces in Iraq, provided weapons and explosives to violent Shia extremist groups, and planned the January 20th, 2007 attack in Karbala that killed five American soldiers and wounded three others,&#8221; Hook continued. &#8220;In 2011, Shahlai funded and directed a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir.  This would have been carried out in a restaurant in Georgetown. Shahlai also aimed to carry out follow-on attacks in the United States and elsewhere. Had this scheme succeeded, as many as 200 innocent civilians in the United States could have been killed.&#8221;
&#8220;Given Shahlai’s track record of terrorism and destabilization in Iraq, we remain gravely concerned by his presence in Yemen and potential role in providing advanced weaponry of the kind that we have interdicted to the Houthis,&#8221; Hook continued. &#8220;Iranian UAVs, missiles, and explosive boats have been used by the Houthis to threaten key civilian and economic interests and otherwise wreak havoc in the region. This designation, together with the recent interdiction in Yemen, underscores our commitment to deny Iran the means to run an expansionist foreign policy.&#8221;
Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-pompeo-release-details-on-terror-attack-soleimani-planned">revealed</a> on Friday details of the terrorist attack that Qassem Soleimani was planning on U.S. interests in the region that led to the president&#8217;s decision to eliminate him.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump said, “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
During a press conference, Pompeo said that the attack was targeted “American facilities, including American embassies, military bases. American facilities throughout the region.”

F-35

U.S. Launched Secret Operation To Kill Second Top Iranian Terrorist On Same Day As Soleimani

Donald Trump

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Qassem Soleimani

This will not be Tehran 1979. Nor Benghazi 2012.
There were, apparently two groups of invaders at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-iran-behind-attack-on-u-s-embassy-in-baghdad-will-pay">U.S. embassy in Baghdad</a> — hordes of rioting protesters in the streets and well-covered, professional-looking, careful militia members entering the out building. Security forces (and some contractors) used tear gas and stun guns against the demonstrators as the United States protected its embassy compound — <a href="https://www.tribuneledgernews.com/opinion/embassies-and-consulates-are-not-foreign-territory/article_781a9a04-d64a-11e8-9977-334e978bea56.html">sovereign American territory</a> by international convention.
A bit of U.S.-Iranian history is instructive here. When the Iranians overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, President Jimmy Carter dubbed the Ayatollah Khomeini “<a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Father-of-the-Iranian-revolution">a holy man</a>” with whom, presumably, one could do business. President Barak Obama was certain, in 2015, that “the only alternative to the JCPOA is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-defense-of-the-iran-deal-comes-with-a-tough-love-message/2015/07/15/a7614b4a-2b04-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html">war with Iran</a>,” presumably meaning that the so-called “Iran nuclear deal” was the way to avoid war and restore Iran to the family of nations.
The result of Carter’s assistance to the ayatollah, and Obama’s lapse in memory — the Iranians had, actually, been in a declared state of war with the United States (and Israel) since 1979 — was to allow the juggernaut of Shiite expansionist theology to ruin Iran, invade Iraq, incubate ISIS, occupy Syria, bring its proxy to power and ruin Lebanon, run the Houthi war in Yemen, undermine Bahrain, attack Saudi Arabia, and spread its tentacles across Africa. And this transpired all while Iran violated the U.N. ban on Iranian arms imports and exports, the U.N. ban on the development of Iranian ballistic missiles, and the P5+1-ratified-by-the-U.N. ban on the development of nuclear weapons technology.
President Donald Trump harbors no such fantasies. He has already shown that <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2018/03/05/punishing-syrian-chemical-weapons-use/">retaliation</a> for acts of war is in his playbook. But he has also shown that it isn’t necessary to retaliate every time for every single thing — including Iran’s attack on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/world/middleeast/saudi-iran-attack-oil.html">Saudi oil facilities.</a>
As Iran’s tentacles have <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/09/03/the-shiite-crescent-and-regional-disaster/">spread farther</a>, it has begun to show signs of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-irans-imperial-overreach">imperial overreach</a>.” The re-imposition of American sanctions means Iran has fewer and fewer resources to stoke the flames of revolution extraterritorially. Rebellion against the clerical regime actually began in December 2017 — not 2019, when The New York Times began to report on it. Uprisings in Lebanon and Iraq began earlier this year — both decidedly anti-Iran and anti-clerical. And, as Iran watches Russia swallow Syria’s <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78261">reconstruction money</a> for its own purposes, the mullahs appear to have decided it is now time for Iran to reassert itself.
Iranian forces are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-says-it-shot-rioters-after-rights-group-claims-200-n1094651">out in the streets</a> of multiple Iranian cities and the U.S. confirms that the death toll among demonstrators is <a href="https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/voa-news-iran/us-confirms-report-citing-iran-officials-saying-1500-killed-protests">more than 1,500</a>, including hundreds of women. The ayatollahs have cut off the internet, to the extent they can, to prevent Western understanding of the devastation. Iranian-backed Shiite militias have been out in force in Iraq — not only in Baghdad, but in Shiite cities across the south of the county. The <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/lebanon-military-forces-must-end-arbitrary-arrests-and-torture-of-protesters/">Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)</a> plus Hezbollah militias are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">trying to get Lebanon</a> under control with some brutal tactics.
It hasn’t been working very well.
A wounded adversary is the most dangerous. The 1944 Battle of the Bulge reflected Hitler’s understanding that the Allies would not be held off forever, so he wanted to make it harder and bloodier to reach V-E Day. Emperor Hirohito’s determination that every Japanese civilian would fight to the death on the mainland — knowing defeat was inevitable — was the impetus for President Truman’s use of the atomic bomb (in part) to short-circuit the casualty count, assessed by analysts to be in the millions.
This is NOT a suggestion that the U.S. storm Iran — or heaven forbid, use an atomic or other weapon against Iranian cities. Not, not, not!
It is, however, a reminder of what we face. Iran has been begging for the sort of American retaliation that it could (A) use to try to bring its population together in opposition to the “Great Satan,” or (B) use to launch Hezbollah to attack Israel, presenting the U.S. with the conundrum that legitimate American retaliation might harm an ally. The death of an American contractor and wounding of several American soldiers last week in Iraq — in a barrage of more than 30 rockets — followed weeks of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-launches-strikes-in-iraq-and-syria-targeting-iran-backed-militia-pentagon-says/2019/12/29/28c12e22-2a64-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html">Pentagon warnings</a> that Iranian-backed groups in Iraq were likely to attack U.S. forces there.
American retaliation was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-launches-strikes-in-iraq-and-syria-targeting-iran-backed-militia-pentagon-says/2019/12/29/28c12e22-2a64-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html">precise, hitting three sites</a>: Weapons storage facilities and locations the militia used to plan attacks against coalition forces.
What happens next is unclear. At this writing, reinforcements for the U.S. embassy have been called in. But there is a clear understanding in Washington that this is not an uprising of Iraqis against the United States. These are Iranian acts of war. Where American retaliation goes will, no doubt, take that into account.
&nbsp;
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Outraged Iraqi protesters storm US embassy in Baghdad

BRYEN: The Unyielding Iranian Menace

Iraq

Islamic State (ISIS)

Lebanon

New York Times

Nuclear Weapons

Radical Islam

Since December 2017, a sort of “rolling rebellion” has been occurring across Iran. It is bigger, deeper and stronger than the Green Revolution of 2009 and taking place in great measure outside Tehran, <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2017/01/04/non-persian-iran/">where the population is more diverse</a>. There have been strikes of truckers, bazaar shopkeepers, teachers, farmers, and students. See #WhiteWednesday on Twitter to watch brave Iranian women go into the streets and take off their head coverings. Sometimes they dance. Sometimes their husbands, fathers, and brothers go with them. Sometimes they are arrested and sometimes they go to jail. Unfortunately, it took the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-04/death-of-irans-blue-girl-casts-spotlight-on-iranian-women-and-a-growing-movement-for-equality">suicide of a young woman</a> facing seven years in prison for attending a soccer match to get the attention of the Western press.
In May of this year, <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/05/03/the-iranian-mullahs-are-nervous/">widespread upheaval</a> convulsed the country and thousands were arrested. This weekend, news of increasing protest in Iran comes from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) — an organization with a mixed record of acceptance by the U.S. government, but with indisputable reach inside the country. According to NCRI’s Washington office, at least 65 cities have seen violent demonstrations, with people killed and injured by authorities. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Mojahedineng/videos">Videos, presumably from cell phones</a>, show that pictures of the Ayatollah Khameini have been set on fire and demonstrators are chanting “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to Rouhani.” You can follow <a href="https://twitter.com/AlirezaNader">@AlirezaNader</a> for more.
As Iran spreads its tentacles abroad and builds its illegal nuclear capability, it is clear that the regime cannot fund domestic priorities and international revolution on the same budget — especially as that budget contracts.
Imperial overreach was the ruin of the Roman Empire, the Byzantines, Egyptians, Ottomans, Nazis, and Soviets. Could it be catching up with Iran? Wait, you say, Iran isn’t an empire. Not in the traditional sense. But it was always the belief of the hegemonic mullahs that instability across large regions, managed with a relatively small group of well-trained Iranian professionals and a lot of proxy fighters, would create a world in which Shiite supremacism held sway.
And it was working.
The Shiite Crescent — from Iran through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to the Mediterranean — was a “lid” over Iran’s Sunni enemies Saudi Arabia and Jordan, plus Israel. It was also a wedge between Sunni Turkey and the Sunni countries below — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Gulf states. Most of the proxy soldiers were Iraqi militias, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Pakistanis and Afghans brought to Syria under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The result was millions of Sunni Syrian refugees in the Middle East and Europe.
Sunni Hamas and Shiite Palestinian Islamic Jihad were both recipients of Iranian funds, weapons, and training to harass Israel.
There is also an underside Crescent, which is less well understood. It encircles the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf of Aden with a base in Yemen and a Houthi proxy at the bottom of the Red Sea, threatening the Bab el Mandeb Straits and the exit of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. And the American base in Djibouti.
And Africa. Iran incubated Sunni jihadists in the poor, corrupt, and vulnerable states of the second tier — Sudan, Chad, Niger, and Mali. The result was waves of migrants headed north. The North African countries — Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria — were all in the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue group that helped control safety and security in the sea until the Obama administration toppled the Libyan government in 2011. Libya, no longer a member of the Dialogue, has become a hole in the dam through which hundreds of thousands of African migrants reached Europe.
But has the empire reached too far?
American-led sanctions have been an enormous financial blow to the mullahs, but sanctions are misunderstood. Not a mechanism for toppling a government, they are a means of forcing a government to make choices — between, revolution and agriculture, between weapons and water and sewer systems, between Palestinian jihadists and schools, and so forth. That is what Iran faced in 2011 and that is what led to the Iran/P5+1 negotiations. The fact that President Obama collapsed and paid off the mullahs allowed them to avoid those very choices and set back the operation by years and millions of deaths in the Middle East and Africa.
The restoration of sanctions means Iran has less to pay off its proxies — as well as less for its own people. European businesses, and even China, are leaving Iran and taking their money. Iran tried to compensate by stealing Iraqi oil.
And that’s where empire begins to break down.
There are explicitly anti-Iranian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-missing-the-point-of-the-latest-middle-east-protests">riots in Lebanon and Iraq</a>. Hezbollah fighters have announced they will <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2019/1112/Inside-Hezbollah-How-Lebanon-protests-are-breaking-fear-barrier">refuse to return to Syria</a> for Iran. Iraqis have <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/10/29/missing-the-point-of-the-latest-middle-east-protests/">attacked Iranian bases and depots</a>. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi">@HeshmatAlavi</a> for the latest Iraqi moves and Iranian counter-moves. But most of the mainstream press isn’t there.
But the biggest changes may be coming in Iran itself.
&nbsp;
Shoshana Bryen is senior director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/">The Jewish Policy Center</a>. Portions of this article appeared in the Jewish Policy Center magazine, inFOCUS Quarterly.

Iranian flag on conference table

BRYEN: Has The Iranian Empire Overreached?

Israel

Saudi Arabia

President Trump on Wednesday said he has ordered the Treasury Department to &#8220;substantially increase&#8221; sanctions on Iran after drone attacks on two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
&#8220;I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!&#8221; Trump wrote on Twitter.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1174305447513186304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
It was not immediately clear exactly what he instructed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to do. The U.S. has long had punitive sanctions in place against Iran.
Trump&#8217;s move comes after drone strikes on Saturday that severely damaged a crude-processing plant and oil field in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest in the world. The U.S. and the Saudis have accused Iran of perpetrating the attacks.
The drone strikes prompted an immediate spike in crude prices, which experts said could soon raise the price of gas by 20 cents or more in the U.S. After Trump&#8217;s announcement on Wednesday, oil prices fell.
After the attack, Trump said U.S. authorities suspected Iran. &#8220;It&#8217;s certainly looking that way at this point,&#8221; Trump said Monday, although he steered clear of directly blaming Iran.
&#8220;Do I want war? I don&#8217;t want war with anybody,&#8221; Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, adding: &#8220;We have the strongest military in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want war with anybody but we are prepared more than anybody &#8230; We have a lot of options but we are not looking at options right now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That was a very large attack and it could be met with an attack many, many times larger very easily by our country, but we are going to find out who definitively did it first,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;We have a lot of options, but I&#8217;m not looking at options right now. We want to find definitively who did this,&#8221; Trump said.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Monday the attacks were a &#8220;reciprocal response&#8221; to Saudi aggression against Yemen, but claims they came from Yemen, not Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Trump was more aggressive on Sunday when he said the U.S. was &#8220;locked and loaded.&#8221;
&#8220;Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!&#8221; he wrote on Twitter.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-he-told-mnuchin-substantially-increase-sanctions-iran-n1055781">NBC News</a> reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was considering a range of options to retaliate against Iran, &#8220;including a cyberattack or physical strikes, U.S. officials briefed on recent deliberations said. Military leaders presented Trump with multiple possible actions in a national security meeting Monday, but Trump asked for additional choices, people briefed on that meeting said.&#8221;
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also blamed Iran for the attacks. He is currently heading to Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to &#8220;coordinate efforts to counter Iranian aggression in the region,&#8221; the State Department said in a statement.
&#8220;The Pentagon is preparing a report on who was responsible and intends to make it public within 48 hours, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday,&#8221; <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-18/iran-says-it-s-not-looking-for-war-warns-u-s-against-action">Bloomberg News</a> reported. &#8220;The official couldn’t confirm or deny a CBS News report that the U.S. has identified locations in southern Iran from which it believes more than 20 drones and cruise missiles were launched.&#8221;

djt_2

BREAKING: Trump Orders New Sanctions Against Iran After Saudi Oil Attacks

As The Associated Press <a href="http://apne.ws/NkbdeDv">reported</a> last night, President Donald Trump just issued only the <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-16/trump-issues-his-second-veto-blocking-congressional-resolution-end-us-support-saudi?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29">second veto</a> of his presidency &#8212; on the issue of Congress&#8217; attempted defunding of U.S. support for Saudi Arabia&#8217;s defensive war against genocidal Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in the Saudis&#8217; war-torn neighboring country of Yemen.
Per <a href="https://apnews.com/1b17cee217b344d8a3a03642139fb606">The Associated Press</a>:
<blockquote>
President Donald Trump vetoed a resolution passed by Congress to end U.S. military assistance in Saudi Arabia&#8217;s war in Yemen. &#8230;
&#8220;This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,&#8221; Trump wrote in explaining his Tuesday veto. &#8230;
The U.S. provides billions of dollars of arms to the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. Members of Congress have expressed concern about the thousands of civilians killed in coalition airstrikes since the conflict began in 2014. The fighting in the Arab world&#8217;s poorest country also has left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and has pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Trump said the measure was unnecessary because except for counterterrorism operations against Islamic State militants and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the United States is not engaged in hostilities in or affecting Yemen.
</blockquote>
The Associated Press saw fit to <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1118299332577566720">frame</a> the Yemeni civil war as being &#8220;Saudi-led,&#8221; but such a characterization is highly <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1118299959256862722">tendentious</a> at best, and distortional at worst. As I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44687/course-tlaib-omar-serve-shills-irans-bloody-war-josh-hammer">noted</a> last month, &#8220;The reality is that the horrific and bloody civil war in Yemen, however tragic it may be from a collateral damage perspective, amounts to a zero-sum game between [Mohammed] bin Salman&#8217;s Saudi Arabia and the Iranian mullocracy, which is the world&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43339/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">number one state exporter of global jihadism</a>.&#8221; Consider also what the always-incisive Evelyn Gordon <a href="http://evelyncgordon.com/backing-the-saudis-in-yemen-is-right-strategically-and-morally/">wrote</a> in February:
<blockquote>
An expert report submitted to the U.N. Security Council this month concluded that Iran is illegally funding Yemen&#8217;s Houthi rebels by giving them oil, which they can sell for cash. From last year&#8217;s version of the same report, we learned that Iran is arming the Houthis with missiles and drones, in violation of a U.N. arms embargo. Thus whatever the Houthis were when the war started, they are now effectively an Iranian subsidiary, dependent on Tehran for both cash and arms.
That is just one of many reasons to be appalled by the Senate&#8217;s renewed effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led fight against the Houthis. &#8230;
[E]mpowering allies is always better than empowering enemies. Granted, Saudi Arabia is a highly imperfect ally, but it is at least nominally in America&#8217;s camp. Iran, in contrast, has been America&#8217;s avowed enemy since 1979, and its proxies have been responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of American deaths in Lebanon and Iraq. Thus for the Senate to weaken Riyadh and strengthen Tehran, which targeting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen does, would be foolish at any time. &#8230;
In Yemen, the lesser evil is clearly backing the Saudi coalition. This would not only further America&#8217;s strategic goals at minimal cost (the U.S. contribution consists of intelligence sharing, midair refueling and arms sales), but would be preferable to a Houthi victory from a human-rights standpoint.
</blockquote>
The Houthi rebels that Iran backs in Yemen, and against which the Saudi monarchy is fighting, happen to be an openly genocidal anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic jihadist menagerie.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
HOUTHI FLAG: 
Death to America 
Death to Israel 
Curse the Jews 
Allah is Great
Paid for by Iran* (should say that but doesn&#8217;t) <a href="https://t.co/9vccdGdM00">https://t.co/9vccdGdM00</a>
&#8212; Josh Block (@JoshBlockDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBlockDC/status/1118310534141698048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Al-Houthi is the head of the Houthi militant group in Yemen. As my friend <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@davereaboi</a> notes, the Houthis&#8217; official slogan is, &#8220;Allah is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.&#8221;
Just going to leave that one there. <a href="https://t.co/0t8wrl2Ik0">https://t.co/0t8wrl2Ik0</a>
&#8212; Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1061012210992861184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
The Associated Press&#8217; highly biased, anti-Saudi framing of the conflict is, alas, par for the course for the mainstream media. Counter-Islamist national security expert Dave Reaboi recently <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/10/media-war-saudi-arabia/">wrote</a> at The Federalist about &#8220;Why The Media Is At War With Saudi Arabia&#8221;:
<blockquote>
No country is hated more by Islamists and the left today than Saudi Arabia, the richest and most powerful of the Arab anti-Islamist states &#8212; at least, as evidenced by the sheer number of relentless tweets about the country from the Brotherhood&#8217;s favorite new nember of Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar. The latest narrative from the pro-Islamist left is that, for their opposition to Islamists, Saudi Arabia and bin Salman are leading purveyors of anti-Muslim bigotry. &#8220;Arab Regimes are the world&#8217;s most powerful Islamophobes,&#8221; write Ola Salem and Hassan Hassan in Foreign Policy.
</blockquote>
Reaboi also highlighted the uniquely dastardly influence of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44282/bombshell-terror-supporting-qatar-working-josh-hammer">Islamism-cozy</a> Qatari regime, noting that &#8220;[t]hroughout its recent war against Saudi Arabia, the media has been egged on by its Islamist regional rival, Qatar, which realized that its goals could be advanced by breaking apart the longstanding U.S.-Saudi alliance.&#8221;
Alas, it appears that The Associated Press is helping to do the bidding of Iran and Qatar. A good thing, indeed, that President Trump saw through the Islamist charade.

Excellent Trump: POTUS Vetoes Congress’ Defunding Of Saudi Defensive War In Yemen

Congress

Trump Administration

With the new Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continuing the crackdown on the kingdom&#8217;s old exporting of Wahhabist/Salafist fundamentalist Sunni Islam, many who are more sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam, more generally, have reflexively flinched. Perhaps most specifically, the Iran-Turkey-Qatar axis of Islamism stands most stridently athwart bin Salman&#8217;s reforms. Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, was, after all, a <a href="https://securitystudies.org/jamal-khashoggi-and-qatar-in-the-echo-chamber/">pawn</a> of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44282/bombshell-terror-supporting-qatar-working-josh-hammer">jihad-exporting</a> Qatari regime.
One side effect of bin Salman&#8217;s reign has been to harden the feelings of many on the post-Barack Obama political Left and prod them to double down on their regional preference for Iran over Saudi Arabia. And there is perhaps no better proxy fight in the Middle East right now between Iran and Saudi Arabia than the current <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423">civil war</a> in Yemen between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Suffice it to say that the Houthis are not exactly the most innocent actors in the region.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Al-Houthi is the head of the Houthi militant group in Yemen. As my friend <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@davereaboi</a> notes, the Houthis&#8217; official slogan is, &#8220;Allah is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.&#8221;
Just going to leave that one there. <a href="https://t.co/0t8wrl2Ik0">https://t.co/0t8wrl2Ik0</a>
&#8212; Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1061012210992861184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Enter freshman congresswomen and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43388/hammer-anti-semites-ilhan-omar-and-rashida-tlaib-josh-hammer">anti-Semites</a> Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN). As is befitting the two, who share some <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/28/rashida-tlaib-anti-semitism-ties/">close</a> <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/17/ilhan-omar-cair-fundraise/">ties</a> with radical Islamists, they have come out squarely in favor of framing the current civil war in Yemen as being Saudi Arabia&#8217;s fault.
Tlaib tweeted on Tuesday: &#8220;Remember when Trump said he wouldn&#8217;t cut Medicare and Medicaid? Well he broke that promise. He&#8217;d rather give Lockheed and the Saudis money for missiles.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Remember when Trump said he wouldn&#8217;t cut Medicare and Medicaid? Well he broke that promise. He&#8217;d rather give Lockheed and the Saudis money for missiles. <a href="https://t.co/1uiwjdYLXr">https://t.co/1uiwjdYLXr</a>
&#8212; Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) <a href="https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1105456392582938624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Omar, quoting Tlaib&#8217;s tweet, also tweeted on Tuesday: &#8220;Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the worst human rights abusers in the world and is responsible for famine/cholera outbreak in Yemen. Yet it is the top buyer of U.S.-made weapons. Why is Donald Trump siding with weapons manufacturers over human rights activists?&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the worst human rights abusers in the world and is responsible for famine/cholera outbreak in Yemen. Yet it is the top buyer of U.S.-made weapons. Why is Donald Trump siding with weapons manufacturers over human rights activists? <a href="https://t.co/r44FVx21G9">https://t.co/r44FVx21G9</a>
&#8212; Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) <a href="https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1105516039859826688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
But the reality is that the horrific and bloody civil war in Yemen, however tragic it may be from a collateral damage perspective, amounts to a zero-sum game between bin Salman&#8217;s Saudi Arabia and the Iranian mullocracy, which is the world&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43339/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">number one state exporter</a> of global jihadism.
As the incisive Evelyn Gordon <a href="http://evelyncgordon.com/backing-the-saudis-in-yemen-is-right-strategically-and-morally/">wrote</a> last month:
<blockquote>
An expert report submitted to the U.N. Security Council this month concluded that Iran is illegally funding Yemen&#8217;s Houthi rebels by giving them oil, which they can sell for cash. From last year&#8217;s version of the same report, we learned that Iran is arming the Houthis with missiles and drones, in violation of a U.N. arms embargo. Thus whatever the Houthis were when the war started, they are now effectively an Iranian subsidiary, dependent on Tehran for both cash and arms.
That is just one of many reasons to be appalled by the Senate&#8217;s renewed effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led fight against the Houthis. &#8230;
[E]mpowering allies is always better than empowering enemies. Granted, Saudi Arabia is a highly imperfect ally, but it is at least nominally in America&#8217;s camp. Iran, in contrast, has been America&#8217;s avowed enemy since 1979, and its proxies have been responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of American deaths in Lebanon and Iraq. Thus for the Senate to weaken Riyadh and strengthen Tehran, which targeting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen does, would be foolish at any time. &#8230;
In Yemen, the lesser evil is clearly backing the Saudi coalition. This would not only further America&#8217;s strategic goals at minimal cost (the U.S. contribution consists of intelligence sharing, midair refueling and arms sales), but would be preferable to a Houthi victory from a human-rights standpoint.
</blockquote>
Though it is perhaps unsurprising, the Tlaib and Omar tweets are yet another reminder of how far the Islamism-sympathetic Left will sometimes go in its reflexive sycophancy toward Iran and opposition to Saudi Arabia &#8212; which has emerged as a key <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/open-secret-saudi-arabia-israel-get-cozy-n821136">intelligence-sharing</a> ally of Israel&#8217;s. So for now, Tlaib and Omar apparently remain supportive of <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/422361-it-is-irans-war-in-yemen-and-americas-problem">Iran&#8217;s war in Yemen</a>.

OF COURSE: Tlaib, Omar Serve As Shills For Iran’s Bloody War In Yemen

Ilhan Omar

Rashida Tlaib

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that he had secured the release of Danny Burch, a U.S. citizen from Texas who was held hostage in Yemen for 18 months. 
Burch was an employee for the Yemeni Safer oil company when Houthi rebels reportedly abducted him from the capital in broad daylight while dropping his children off at a school event in September 2017, the National Review <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/american-hostage-released-yemen-danny-burch-houthi-rebels/">reports</a>.
&#8220;It is my honor today to announce that Danny Burch, a United States citizen who has been held hostage in Yemen for 18 months, has been recovered and reunited with his wife and children,&#8221; Trump tweeted. &#8220;I appreciate the support of the United Arab Emirates in bringing Danny home.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
It is my honor today to announce that Danny Burch, a United States citizen who has been held hostage in Yemen for 18 months, has been recovered and reunited with his wife and children. I appreciate the support of the United Arab Emirates in bringing Danny home&#8230;
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1100110409736978432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
In follow-up tweets Trump added: 
&#8220;Danny&#8217;s recovery reflects the best of what the United States &amp; its partners can accomplish. We work every day to bring Americans home. We maintain constant and intensive diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement cooperation within the United States Government and with our foreign partners. Recovering American hostages is a priority of my Admin, and with Danny&#8217;s release, we have now secured freedom for 20 American captives since my election victory. We will not rest as we continue our work to bring the remaining American hostages back home!&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&#8230;Danny&#8217;s recovery reflects the best of what the United States &amp; its partners can accomplish. 
We work every day to bring Americans home. We maintain constant and intensive diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement cooperation within the United States Government and with&#8230;
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1100110413209858048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&#8230;our foreign partners. Recovering American hostages is a priority of my Admin, and with Danny&#8217;s release, we have now secured freedom for 20 American captives since my election victory. We will not rest as we continue our work to bring the remaining American hostages back home!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1100110416812724224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
&#8220;In 2017, U.S. citizen Danny Burch was taken hostage from Sanaa, Yemen. Today he is safe and secure, and is reunited with his wife and children,&#8221; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/25/donald-trump-danny-burch-texas-man-held-yemen-back-family/2982419002/">USA Today</a> reports. &#8220;The family has asked for privacy as they recover from this ordeal.&#8221;
<a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1100129596391993344">In a tweet</a>, Pompeo also thanked the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Robert C. O&#8217;Brien, the American Embassy in Yemen, and the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell &#8220;for their efforts.&#8221;
&#8220;The safety of Americans is a high priority of the @realDonaldTrump Administration,&#8221; Pompeo added.
The Houthi rebels who reportedly abducted Burch are backed by Iran and currently in a civil war that started in 2015. The conflict is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has led to a humanitarian crisis and tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
The National Review also reports that the reason for Burch&#8217;s kidnapping is unknown, but he flew to the neighboring country of Oman with Houthi leaders in January.
Burch reportedly moved to Yemen in 2003 to work in the oil industry, married a Yemeni woman named Nadia Forsa, and had three children with Forsa.
Burch is the latest American hostage that the Trump Administration has helped free. But there have been many others including:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-italy-cia-idUSKBN16G2N0">Sabrina De Sousa</a> from Portugal in March 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/15600/trump-succeeds-freeing-american-charity-worker-joshua-yasmeh">Aya Hijazi</a> and Mohamed Hassanein from Egypt in April 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/17699/terrible-american-student-released-north-koreans-hank-berrien">Otto Warmbier</a> from North Korea in June 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/25342/former-taliban-hostage-joshua-boyle-arrested-emily-zanotti">Joshua Boyle, Caitlin Coleman and their three children</a> from Afghanistan in October 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/23539/trump-gets-china-free-ucla-basketball-players-james-barrett">LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill</a> from China in November 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30172/get-nobel-prize-ready-north-korea-bends-releases-hank-berrien">Kim Dong-Chul, Kim Hak-Song, and Kim Sang-Suk</a> from North Korea in May 2018</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/31139/another-rescue-american-returns-home-venezuela-emily-zanotti">Joshua Holt</a> from Venezuela in May 2018</li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/37075/american-pastpr-finally-freed-turkey-hank-berrien">Pastor Andrew Brunson</a> from Turkey in October 2018</li>
</ul>

Trump Secures Release Of American Hostage In Yemen

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