The last thing President Donald Trump needs right now is another war brewing in the Middle East. But this is what Trump is getting at a time when he’s in a monthslong standoff with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and as midterm elections, traditionally seen as a referendum on the first two years of a president’s term, are weeks away.
Over the weekend, the people of Saudi Arabia awoke to a series of missile attacks on one of the country’s busiest airports. The Houthis, a militia that for years has ruled swaths of Yemen, launched the weapons at King Khalid International Airport, directly hitting two terminals. A dozen people were killed and about 300 others were wounded in what was the deadliest strike on the kingdom in over a decade. The airport was struck again the next day, forcing Saudi authorities to shut it down.
The Houthis have described the assaults as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and a Saudi-enforced blockade of Houthi-held areas. The Saudis, of course, see the attacks as terrorism meant to kill innocent civilians and coerce the kingdom into a striking a deal on the militia’s terms.
Even before the airport was struck last weekend, Riyadh’s international supporters rallied to its defense.
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