By Nick Giambruno - May 14, 2025

Yemen lies at the gateway of the Bab-el-Mandeb, which translates to “Gate of Tears” in English—a name that aptly reflects the significance of this strategic maritime choke point in the Red Sea.

Bab-el-Mandeb is a crucial conduit for global trade, enabling the flow of goods from the Suez Canal to the open seas and linking Europe and Asia through one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Much to the consternation of the US, Israel, and their regional lackeys, the Ansar Allah movement—often referred to dismissively in the West as the “Houthis”—controls this key passage and is not afraid to leverage it against their adversaries.

This is a major reason Saudi Arabia, along with a “Coalition of the Bribed,” launched Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015—an ill-fated invasion aimed at dislodging the Houthis from power.

Yemen has sometimes been called “the Afghanistan of the Middle East” due to its status as an impoverished, tribal society that is heavily armed, situated in rugged mountainous terrain, and historically resistant to both foreign occupation and centralized authority. So, it was not hard to foresee that Saudi Arabia’s campaign wouldn’t end well.

By 2019, the conflict had ground to a military stalemate. By March 2022, the Saudi-led coalition announced a halt to all hostilities, having failed to achieve any of its objectives.

Most people remain unaware of this war or its details. Yet it’s remarkable that the Saudis—among the wealthiest in the Middle East and backed by the full weight of US military and political support—failed to defeat the region’s most impoverished people in Yemen.

President Biden Tries - And Fails - To Subdue The Houthis

The Houthis are a key component of Iran’s network of regional allies, collectively known as the Axis of Resistance. This alliance includes . . .

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