Issa: Houthis Declaring War on U.S. Using Iraq as Base

On Monday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) argued that the Houthis are “basically using Iraq as a base to declare war on the United States and create a second front.” And he hopes, “in time, we’re able to directly assist, whether it’s Iraqi forces doing it, our forces doing it, or, with assistance, the Saudis being able to target.”

Issa said, “We’ve mismanaged the Houthi situation for a long time. At one point, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as an ally, were flying successful missions and diminishing — in Yemen, diminishing their capability. Under the last administration, Saudi Arabia was basically threatened, because we supply their aircraft, that they had to stop. So, they — on our request, they stopped. That has allowed [the] Houthis to rebuild and to be able to support their allies and funder, quite frankly, Iran. Egypt did a much better job of recognizing that the combatants, the ISIS in the Sinai, many of the Muslim Brotherhoods, they needed to get them to where they couldn’t launch attacks. And they stayed with it until they were truly suppressed, both domestically and around the world. That’s not been the case, historically, with Yemen with the Houthis or with Hezbollah. And it’s allowed them to support terrorism in other places, in this case, firing from Iraq, that’s where the Houthis are doing it, and, of course, targeting infrastructure. They’re basically using Iraq as a base to declare war on the United States and create a second front.”

Co-host Kailey Leinz then asked, “So, should the U.S. be providing more forceful defense for Saudi Arabia if this threat is so real?”

Issa answered, “First of all, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest purchasers of military equipment. … I would not limit their ability, nor their allies, including Jordan, to do what they need to do to create that safety zone. It is easier, in some ways, for us to take targets in Iraq, in partnership with the Iraqis, than it is Saudi Arabia. So, this, specifically, when it comes, not to Yemen or other locations, but targets in Iraq, I would hope that, in time, we’re able to directly assist, whether it’s Iraqi forces doing it, our forces doing it, or, with assistance, the Saudis being able to target. Because the idea that you get to fire deadly rockets and damaging missiles and drones and do it with impunity from a third country, one that we don’t want to attack, Saudi Arabia doesn’t want to attack, but they do need to stop this destruction.”

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