ADEN, YEMEN — Winston Churchill supposedly quibbled that Americans always do the right thing, but only after trying everything else first. Democrats were for Saudi airstrikes before they were against them. President Donald Trump preferred sanctions and designating the Houthis as terrorists, only to have President Joe Biden reverse course. In his second term, Trump tried bombing the Houthis and then agreed to a unilateral ceasefire with them. None of it has worked.

The United Nations, meanwhile, prefers illusions over solutions in Yemen. Security Council members Russia and China would rather empower the Houthis against the West than allow effective action. But with the Houthis again threatening Americans, striking at international shipping, and launching drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, the United States’s policy toward Yemen and the Houthis needs a reset.