OPINION:
The hand of Tehran can be seen clearly in the Houthi missile attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which killed at least 20 people, including an American, and injured more than 300 on Saturday.
The Saudi government called it the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade. As of Sunday, the airport had been hit on four of the past five days.
This is a war of proxies.
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Saudi Arabia is America’s most important Arab ally. The Houthis are modeled directly after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran has been training and supplying the Houthis since 2009. At the same time, the Saudis are supporting the government troops battling Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Despite Saudi air power, the Houthis have steadily gained ground in Yemen. No sane government can afford an Iranian clone in its neighborhood.
The Houthis are equally fanatical and put just as low a price on human life as Tehran. Like their sponsor, they also refuse to distinguish between civilian and military targets.
President Trump promised that we would not resume fighting with Tehran until after the midterm elections. Acting against the Houthis would not violate that pledge.
When asked Saturday, as he was leaving the White House, whether the U.S. would join Saudi Arabia in strikes on the Houthis, the president indicated that it was a distinct possibility, adding, “We move very quickly.”
A quick response is essential.
The Houthis are following Tehran’s playbook: Attack the vital infrastructure of U.S. allies to force them out of the war. Other than Israel, Saudi Arabia is our most important regional ally.
America should join the Saudis in retaliatory strikes against the Houthis. The Saudis are running low on interceptor missiles. Perhaps we could help there as well. Although we have sent military advisers to Saudi Arabia, Washington has thus far resisted Saudi requests for military help to stem the Houthis’ advance in Yemen.
As in World War II, the war in the Middle East is being fought on multiple fronts. The fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen is all connected.
America must support its friends as much as possible and hit the enemy hard at every opportunity.
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