A Deeper Yemen Crisis: The Overlooked Fallout from U.S. Policy

The controversy over insecure Signal app messages concerning U.S. military operations in Yemen has sparked widespread outrage. Yet, a more significant and troubling issue lies beneath the surface.

This deeper crisis involves a failed U.S. policy that inadvertently strengthens an adversary, undermines national security, and threatens countless lives. While the Biden administration is implicated, the policy’s most consequential phase occurred during the Trump presidency.

The situation traces back to the brutal Hamas assault on Israel in October 2023 and Israel’s intense military response that devastated Gaza neighborhoods. In this context, Yemen’s Houthi regime sought to gain regional backing by targeting vessels perceived as aligned with Israel in the Red Sea, though attacks extended to various ships.

This scenario exemplifies the complexities of international diplomacy: an extremist regime disrupting global trade routes with no straightforward remedy. The Biden administration responded with a year-long campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis, costing billions but yielding no clear strategic success.

Under Trump’s tenure, pressure on Yemen intensified. Humanitarian aid was drastically reduced worldwide, hitting Yemen especially hard. Conditions deteriorated sharply; during a 2018 visit, some Yemeni children were already facing starvation, and the crisis has since worsened. Today, half of Yemeni children under five suffer from malnutrition—a figure described by UNICEF as nearly unparalleled globally. Aid cutbacks have forced the closure of over 2,000 nutrition programs, and the U.S. halted shipments of lifesaving peanut paste intended to sustain half a million Yemeni children.

Girls face an even greater risk due to cultural preferences favoring boys. Efforts to empower Yemeni girls and reduce child marriage are being scaled back amid these aid reductions. The story of Nujood Ali, a girl forced into marriage at age 10, highlights the devastating human toll of these policy failures.