Where Are the Saudis?

When we heard that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is asking President Trump for help against the Houthis, the first thought we had was, yes, why not. It is indeed in America’s interest to help a fight against a vicious Iran-backed terrorist militia that threatens global freedom of navigation. Then, though, we started wondering: Why are we arming to the teeth an Arabian kingdom if it needs American bombers to fight a war in the Saudis’ backyard?On Friday the Houthis seized Perim Island, completing its takeover of a 12 mile-wide strait, Bab-el-Mandeb, at the southern end of the Red Sea. This week’s victories for the impoverished Houthi militia stunned Yemen’s well-armed and wealthy Saudi neighbor. Yesterday the crown prince, known as MbS, called Mr. Trump twice to ask for American strikes against the Houthis. Mr. Trump denied the requests, Axios is reporting.Until now the Houthis have mostly stopped Saudi ships from traveling through Bab el Mandeb. The kingdom’s oil exports to its main clients in Asia is becoming more expensive, contributing to global uptick in energy prices. Now, though, the Yemeni militia can block at will any ship traveling the Red Sea’s southern route, and at the Islamic Republic’s request the Houthis might do so. Hence America’s interest in ending further Houthi advances. The Saudi fight against the Houthis started in 2015 and was never overly successful. The latest resumption of hostilities started in July, when Saudi bombers destroyed a Houthi-held Yemeni airstrip used by Iran for arms deliveries. It has been downhill militarily since, as the Saudi-backed Yemeni government kept losing ground. “The Saudis can start a fight but they have no followup and no strategy,” a Mideast following United Nations official told our Benny Avni. Even as it loses in battle, the kingdom amasses weapons like they’re going out of style. Last year Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest weapons importer. It is America’s largest arms client. In July the Department of State approved a near $2 billion new sale of weapons to the kingdom. Riyadh flies F-15 fighter jets. A recently-signed $142 billion deal with Mr. Trump would make the kingdom the first Arab country to possess advanced F-35 stealth fighters.“Sandal shod” Houthis, in contrast, control one of the world’s most impoverished tracts of land. Tehran, though, is arming its allied militia with advanced missiles, drones, and religious indoctrination. Hezbollah and Hamas are now shadows of themselves. The Houthis, and to a lesser degree Shiite Iraqi militias, are emerging as Iran’s strongest cat’s paw. The Houthis are in Saudi Arabia’s backyard, making Riyadh our best fighting ally in Yemen.Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fighters helped the Houthis capture the strategic port of Mocha yesterday. Meanwhile more than 100 American advisers are reportedly on the ground in Yemen, providing intelligence and targets to the Saudi forces. Riyadh’s defense alliance with Ankara and Islamabad, by contrast, is of no help. One Mecca accord partner, Pakistan, is calling on Tehran to reign in the Houthis, but nothing more. On the midterms’ eve Mr. Trump is reluctant to get too involved in Yemen while the war against the head of the snake, Iran, is already preoccupying him. We arm the Saudis, in part, to project American-backed power in the Mideast. Instead, the Saudis scoff on the Abraham accords and sign useless deals with ephemeral Islamists. Mr. Trump deftly forced members of the North Atlantic Treaty to raise their defense budgets. What about the Saudis?

Where Are the Saudis?

Where Are the Saudis?

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