Vice President Joe Biden welcomed the newly elected President of Yemen to the White House in 2012, while the United States hailed my homeland for his “historic and peaceful transfer of power”. Yemenis have endorsed a roadmap for inclusive and accountable democracy.
It was ambitious, but we were determined and we knew that we had a partner in the US President, Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, led a national dialogue that included political parties, tribal envoys, regional representatives, union leaders, women and youth. We drafted a constitution and planned new elections.
We Yemenis have learned the hard way the price of a collapsing democratic transition. In 2014, Iran-backed Houthi armed factions seized power and plunged Yemen into civil war. The Houthis attacked civilian targets, including schools, mosques, airports and parades. They launched drones and ballistic missiles in neighboring countries and coordinated with US-designated terrorist groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. Last week, we learned that they are still obstructing international efforts to save the oil tanker FSO Safer and prevent an environmental catastrophe.
Unfortunately, much of Congress’ attention – mainly among Democrats – has been focused not on Houthis, but on Arab countries struggling to restore Yemen’s legitimate government according to the various UN resolutions.
We welcome President Biden’s desire to accelerate a negotiated solution, even after announcing the end of US assistance to the coalition’s “offensive” operations.