September 9th, 2026: Another War Is Erupting in the Middle East & Pentagon Rethinks Middle East Posture

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Wednesday, the 9th of September, welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the civil war in Yemen is heating up. Iran-backed Houthis have struck four Saudi cities, while Saudi-backed forces launch a major offensive and vow to retake the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, because apparently, 2026 just didn't have sufficient conflict. Later in the show, we'll take a look at a new report that says the US military is considering a smaller footprint in the Middle East once the war with Iran ends. Plus, an Iranian airline accused of moving weapons and cash and personnel for the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, is growing despite years of US sanctions. They're adding routes. I wonder if they're adding any direct flights to Orlando or Orlando. And in today's Back of the Brief, the US military says suspicious drone activity along the US southern border has decreased dramatically after troops began using a high-energy laser weapon to target drones. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. A war that had been quiet for years may now be roaring back to life in Yemen. Iran-backed Houthi forces have launched one of their largest attacks on Saudi Arabia in years, striking four cities in Saudi Arabia, hitting energy facilities and wounding 73 people. At the same time, Saudi-backed forces inside Yemen are mounting a broad new offensive against the Houthis, with commanders openly saying, their goal is to retake the capital of Sana'a. Although a 2022 truce dramatically reduced the fighting, Yemen's civil war never truly ended, but direct attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia became far less frequent. Now that uneasy quiet is breaking down. The latest escalation began early Tuesday when the Houthis launched what they described as a large-scale missile and drone attack against targets across southern Saudi Arabia. Four cities were hit, and Saudi authorities say 73 people were wounded, including women and children. Several energy facilities were also struck, forcing some operations to temporarily shut down as emergency crews battled fires and assessed the damage. The Iran-backed Houthis say they used dozens of ballistic missiles and drones in the operation and targeted several major sites, including Aramco facilities and King Khalid Air Base. Saudi officials are calling the overall attack a dangerous escalation and warning that Riyadh will take whatever measures it considers necessary to defend the kingdom. And there are already signs that the response may be underway. Houthi-controlled media reported Saudi airstrikes inside Yemen on Tuesday, including several attacks east of Sana'a. Forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government have launched new attacks against Houthi positions across several provinces, including Dhaiz, Al-Baidah, Al-Jauf, Marib and Hodeidah. And government commanders are claiming advances in some of those areas. The Houthis dispute parts of that account and say they have repelled major assaults. And as is typical in these conflicts, independent confirmation from the battlefield remains limited. But one thing is clear. The government side is talking about objectives that we haven't heard in years. Yemen's Deputy Defense Minister, Major General Samir Al-Salbri says the goal is to retake Sana'a. Now, that would be an enormous undertaking. The Houthis seized the capital in 2014, setting off the civil war that eventually drew in Saudi Arabia, Iran and a long list of regional powers. Since then, Sana'a has remained the political center of Houthi-controlled Yemen. So when government commanders say they intend to recapture it, they're not talking about a small tactical adjustment to the front line. They're talking about reversing the central outcome of a war that's lasted more than a decade. Some of the fighting now underway is taking place in areas that could matter to any future push toward the capital. Al-Jawf sits northeast of Sana'a and connects towards Adda, the Houthi's historic stronghold. Al-Baita sits near the center of the country and links several northern and southern provinces. If government forces can make sustained gains in those areas, they could put new pressure on the Houthi heartland. But that is a very big if. Yemen's terrain is difficult, the Houthis are deeply entrenched, and they've spent years building military capabilities with significant Iranian support. They've also demonstrated repeatedly that they can strike far beyond Yemen's borders. And that is what Saudi Arabia is confronting now.

Jazan, one of the areas hit Tuesday, is especially important because it sits on the Red Sea coast and contains major Saudi energy infrastructure. The kingdom has relied increasingly on western export routes, as fighting, of course, with Iran has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. And the Houthis sit beside another critical maritime choke point, that would be the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. So even though the core of this story is about the renewed fighting itself, the consequences could extend well beyond Yemen. The Houthis are striking Saudi territory while also threatening shipping in the Red Sea. Saudi-backed forces are opening new fronts inside Yemen. And Riyadh, which spent years trying to reduce its involvement in this conflict, may now find itself pulled back toward a much larger war. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed or wounded in the renewed fighting over the past several weeks, while tens of thousands have already been displaced.