Trump's stance changed from rejecting Saudi Arabia's request to join, saying "it might happen"
Dilemma between the burden of war expansion ahead of the midterm elections and the need to respond to American deaths
(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Baek Na-ri = With the death of an American due to the offensive of pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen, attention is being paid to whether US President Donald Trump, who has been reluctant to take military action, will change his mind.
With Houthi rebels attacking the heart of Saudi Arabia every day and the situation in the Middle East deteriorating out of control, President Trump's concerns are deepening with about three weeks left before the midterm elections.
Until now, President Trump has not participated in the Houthi rebel attack despite the request of his Saudi ally, but a change is being detected in his recent remarks.
When asked on the 10th (local time) whether he would join Saudi Arabia's attack on the Houthis, President Trump said, "Maybe. We'll look at it."
He said he had just learned of the Houthis' attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and said, "A decision will be made. We will move very quickly."
As Americans were included among the 12 dead in the Houthi attack targeting King Khalid Airport that day, President Trump's stance appears to have shifted to 'reviewing the attack'.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also issued a statement strongly condemning the Houthi rebels, labeling them terrorists.
In a statement on the 10th, Secretary Rubio said, "We strongly condemn the recent attacks carried out by the Houthis in Saudi Arabia, including the attack on King Khalid Airport, which took several innocent lives, including one American citizen," and "We stand with Saudi Arabia."
However, the Houthi rebels paid no heed to this and continued attacking Riyadh on the 11th, further worsening the situation in the Middle East, and President Trump's concerns are expected to deepen.
For President Trump, who is ahead of the midterm elections on November 3, the military escalation through participation in the Houthi attack is bound to be burdensome. He has already appeased the market by declaring that he would not attack Iran until the midterm elections.
However, we cannot ignore the situation in which Americans lost their lives through inaction. There are also concerns that if left as is, the situation in the Middle East could get out of control due to the strengthening of the offensive by the Houthis, backed by Iran.
If President Trump decides to take a military response, it is highly likely that it will be a limited blow with an influx of firepower in a short period of time, but the possibility that the Houthi rebels will continue to counterattack and the United States will be dragged into another quagmire cannot be ruled out.
While a sense of crisis is prevalent in the Republican Party that they may lose both the Senate and House of Representatives to the opposition party in the midterm elections, the fact that responding to the Houthis could stimulate oil prices is also a variable that President Trump must take into account.
Another issue is whether the United States, which is unable to end its war with Iran, has the capacity to handle a conflict with the Houthis. Although President Trump denies it, there have been successive reports that the U.S. military exhausted its ammunition to a dangerous level during the attack on Iran.
