Just days after taking the oath of office, President Joe Biden directed his government to delist Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO). On January 28, 2021 — just eight days after Biden’s bizarre inauguration — Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked during a press conference which policies enacted by President Trump were a priority for the State Department to reverse. He responded that reversing the terrorist designation and lifting sanctions on the Iranian-backed Houthis was “the priority in my book.”
The Biden admin made a Day 1 decision to appease Iran and dismantle Houthi sanctions.
They knew they were doing bad things for bad reasons so they lied to the public and reporters about their decision. As the Houthis escalated, they couldn't respond.
They're still doing it. 🧵
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) January 12, 2024
The Biden government argued that the terrorist designation and sanctions prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Yemeni civilians — roughly 80 percent of the country’s population lives in territory controlled by the Houthi rebels. Reversing the terror designation was also a decision taken to make a news splash and distinguish their foreign policy from Biden’s predecessor.
Former President Donald Trump had signed the designation declaring the Houthis a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” on January 11, 2021 — just ten days before Biden took office — and the issue still had some legs in the news cycle.
Biden officials suspended terrorism sanctions on the Houthis on Jan 25 and announced revoking them on Feb 5. That was a Friday.
Then immediately that weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, the Houthis launched an offensive of mass murdering Yemeni civilians and attacking Saudi Arabia.…
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) January 12, 2024
By January 25, 2021, the Biden government had put into effect a temporary suspension of sanctions on the Houthis, and on February 5 of that year, they announced that the terror designation had been officially revoked — although the official announcement was not made public until February 12. Almost immediately, the Houthi rebels renewed hostilities against Saudi Arabia and launched attacks against Yemeni civilians in territory under the control of the country’s internationally recognized government.
The Biden White House communications team was able to head off any bad press in the immediate fallout from revoking the terrorist designation by both stonewalling and lying to an already complacent media, and by hamstringing Congress through an Obama-era tactic of mixing classified and non-classified information — making it difficult for lawmakers to discuss White House actions publicly.
In fact, here are the press briefings for the whole week. Feb 8, 10, 11, and 12 in order. Just look at them lying. pic.twitter.com/slp9FMBm1T
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) January 12, 2024
Trump responded to Biden’s latest foreign policy flub early Friday, stating: “So, let me get this straight. We’re dropping bombs all over the Middle East, AGAIN (where I defeated ISIS!), and our Secretary of Defence, who just went missing for five days, is running the war from his laptop in a hospital room. Remember, this is the same gang that “surrendered” in Afghanistan, where no one was held accountable or FIRED. It was the most embarrassing “moment” in the history of the United States. Now we have wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Yemen, but no “war” on our Southern Border. Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Crooked Joe Biden is the worst President in the history of the United States!”
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