Exclusive — Army Vet, AZ House Candidate Abe Hamadeh: U.S. Is Being Tested, ‘Biden Is Continuing to Fail’

Army veteran and Republican Arizona House Candidate Abe Hamadeh, who served as an intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia during Houthi attacks, said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Monday that the United States is being tested in the Middle East and the Biden administration is “continuing to fail.”

“You’re seeing these other terrorist organizations and other hostile countries taking advantage of America’s weakness because they aren’t seeing appropriate responses. And they’re seeing the United States kind of waffling with our policy with Israel,” he said.

“It’s going to continue to test the United States leadership and Biden is continuing to fail, and it can all erupt into flames really quickly,” he added. “There’s no incentive for the groups to stop because they’re meeting minimum resistance.”

His remarks come after Iran-backed Houthi militants on Sunday attacked a U.S. destroyer and several commercial ships with drones and ballistic missiles in the Red Sea. The Pentagon claimed its intelligence analysis showed that the U.S. destroyer was not the intended target of the attacks.

“It’s funny that they say that, because that was the same thing when I was serving in Saudi Arabia with the U.S. Army. The Houthis, you know, it was never clear who they were targeting. I mean, they were at war with Saudi Arabia at the time, but those missiles came very close to U.S. military bases and embassies, diplomatic areas,” he said.

“Whether it was intentional or not, they were still firing missiles, and where U.S. military service members were serving,” he said.

Hamadeh served in Saudi Arabia from August 2020 to August 2021, during both the Trump and Biden administrations. He was in charge of U.S.-Saudi training operations.

He contrasted former President Donald Trump’s record to current President Joe Biden’s record in the Middle East, and noted that Trump had designated the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, while Biden, a month into his administration, rescinded that designation.

“I don’t know why they have not reclassified the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. It doesn’t make any sense that they delisted them. And especially it doesn’t make any sense now that all of these attacks happening, whether it’s towards Israel, or towards some of these commercial ships, or even our military. At what point is the Biden administration going to admit its failure and redesignate them as a terrorist organization?” he said.

“The Biden administration is so weak, and everybody sees it right now,” he added.

Hamadeh also recalled the mental toll the attacks in the Middle East take on U.S. troops. Since October 17, Iran-backed proxy forces have launched at least 74 attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, resulting in shrapnel injuries and traumatic brain injury.

“It is scary because you don’t know what time of day is coming,” said Hamadeh, who said there were about one to two dozen missiles fired into Saudi Arabia by the Houthis while he was there.

He said Saudi Arabia has good defensive capabilities, but the Houthis would occasionally hit targets, such as oil refineries  or facilities, and U.S. troops were often with Saudi security forces training them.

“So even if they were targeting Saudi Arabia, American troops would have been in harm’s way. So it was scary time, but luckily, you know, everybody was safe, other than, you know, just the mental toll it takes on you,” he said.

He said it was especially hard for troops in Iraq and Syria, where they feel isolated and surrounded by enemies, “It’s very scary, because in Iraq, for instance, you have the Government of Iraq who wants American troops out, so they, in many ways, feel they’re isolated there and same in Syria as well. So, it is very scary when you’re surrounded by enemies. And bordering you have countries that hate you, their governments want you out, you have terrorists that have been emboldened because Iran has given them the green light to attack American troops. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Hamadeh dismissed the Pentagon’s claims that the attacks against troops are not connected to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the latter of which is backed by Iran.

“There’s only one common denominator and it’s Iran. The attacks happening on our troops in Syria and Iraq, they’re, they’re done by Iranian terrorist proxies. And the Houthis came into power with Iranian help, and those missiles that the Houthis have, I mean, these are long range and sophisticated missiles,” he said.

“The only supplier of Yemen for these weapons is Iran. So of course, they’re all tied to each other. It’s the Iranian regime using its proxies to do its dirty work, whether it’s Hezbollah or Hamas, or the groups that they control in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis. It’s one source, and the common denominator is Iran.

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