Mideast journal: Stop the Houthis, Now!
Yemen’s Houthis “are testing a model of 21st-century piracy that, if successful, will be made permanent and likely copied by others,” warns Commentary’s Seth Mandel. Yes, “the Houthis can and should be stopped, but it would require Western leaders to confront the consequences of their atrocious miscalculation of the Houthi threat.” That threat so far has resulted in shipping costs “in some cases up nearly 400 percent.” Worse, “the Houthis could probably survive on their own, even if Iranian sponsorship disappeared.” “The Trump administration now faces the same choice that bedeviled Joe Biden on whether to end the Houthi threat to the global economy.” “Putting a stop to the Houthis is the obvious choice,” while “letting this continue would be inexplicable and indefensible.”
Foreign desk: Europe’s Wake-up Call on Defense
“European countries are now scrambling to prepare for the possibility that the United States might withdraw the security umbrella that has shielded the continent for nearly 80 years,” notes Ani Chkhikvadze at the Washington Examiner. For decades, “European nations underinvested in defense.” But Trump’s since-rescinded halt on military aid to Kyiv “forced Europeans to consider their own defense capabilities.” They suddenly realize that “if the war ends on Russia’s terms and the U.S. withdraws from Europe, the next target could be them.” Thus, finally, “European countries are discussing a major defense spending increase.” But they face “indifference” from the public, since US involvement has meant that Europeans didn’t have “to contemplate their physical security.” Yet now “the question is no longer theoretical: If the U.S. steps back, will Europe finally step forward?”
NY cardinal: Christians Must Reject Jew-Hate
“It seems every generation must learn anew that hatred against Jews is not just unacceptable, but a grave evil,” argues Timothy Cardinal Dolan at The Free Press. “This Lenten season, we Catholics and all Christians would do well to meditate on our faith’s rejection of antisemitism” and how “social media can warp young minds.” Catholics reject racism because “every human life is created in the image of God, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.” Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI affirmed “the incompatibility of antisemitism and Christianity.” Recognizing that Christianity stems from the Jewish faith, Pope Francis asserts that Christians are called “to ensure that antisemitism is banned from the human community.”
Culture critic: Some Migrants Come To Hurt Us
The threatened deportation of pro-Hamas Columbia agitator Mahmoud Khalil has exposed “an often-overlooked” fact, observes The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Hennessey. “Not all the hungry, poor, huddled masses who come to this country yearn to breathe free. Some come to mess with us.” They hate us — “the way we eat and dress” and “what they see as our ignorance and arrogance.” So why do they come? For some, it’s “persecution and poverty”; “they longed to live in freedom.” Presumably no one forced Khalil to come, nor did he leave once here. “Should Americans tolerate” ungrateful immigrants? “I’m OK” having “those looking to hurt” us shipped home. And if it’s further proved that Khalil “violated the civil rights of Jewish students” at Columbia, “he can go in the cargo hold.”
UK beat: So Long, Free Speech
In recent years, “Britain’s speech authorities have become more powerful while the offenses have become more vague,” thunders Paul du Quenoy at Tablet. A handful of anti-abortion protesters have been arrested and criminally prosecuted, and they’re “not alone in being targeted by Britain’s speech police.” In one absurd instance, “Jamila Abdi, a 21-year-old Black woman, was criminally charged last summer after using the ‘N-word’ to refer to a Black soccer player in a Twitter discussion,” though those charges were later dropped “amid concerns that prosecuting a Black person for using the ‘N-word’ was itself racist.” Still, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was right in lamenting last month that in Britain these days, “you can’t say anything or you might get put in prison.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
