Above photo: 19fortyfive.
Amid Ineffective Yemen Bombing Campaign.
Washington spent over $1 billion in just the first three weeks of its renewed war in support of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
NOTE: The Cradle also reports: US President Donald Trump is facing growing scrutiny for withholding information about US military casualties resulting from the ongoing illegal military campaign in Yemen. According to a report by The Intercept published on 3 May, US Central Command (CENTCOM), the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the White House have refused to disclose how many US service members have been killed or wounded since the launch of Operation Rough Rider in March 2025.
One recent incident underscored the risks: an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet fell off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier earlier this week after the ship reportedly made a sharp turn to avoid a Yemeni missile. One sailor was injured, and the $60 million jet was lost. When The Intercept asked the Pentagon for casualty figures, officials deflected and directed the inquiry to CENTCOM. CENTCOM then referred the request to the White House, which has remained silent. Erik Sperling of Just Foreign Policy stated, “Withholding basic information from the public makes it harder for the media to shine light on how these officials are violating one of Trump’s most broadly popular campaign promises.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on 2 May ordered the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier to remain in West Asia for another week, marking the second time its deployment has been extended amid ongoing military operations against Yemen.
The move maintains the presence of two US aircraft carrier strike groups in the region—an uncommon occurrence in recent years—underscoring Washington’s commitment to end Yemeni attacks on Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea.
The Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) began attacking Israeli-linked ships starting in November 2023 in response to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
The USS Truman and its strike group, currently in the Red Sea, were initially scheduled to return home to Norfolk, Virginia, last month. However, the deployment was extended in late March as part of an intensified airstrikes campaign against Yemen.
According to US officials, Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, requested the additional extension signed by Hegseth on Thursday. Meanwhile, the USS Carl Vinson, based in San Diego, has been operating in the Gulf of Aden with its strike group.
Since March 15, the US has launched daily airstrikes under the banner of Operation Rough Rider, with President Donald Trump vowing to apply “overwhelming lethal force” until the YAF cease their attacks. Central Command claims the US has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen during the operation, though it has offered few details on the nature of those strikes.
On 18 April, US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Ras Isa oil port killed at least 80 people and injured 150. On 28 April 28, a US airstrike hit a migrant detention center in Saada, killing 68 African migrants and wounding 47 others.
The Ansarallah-led Yemeni government targeted over 100 merchant vessels between November and January, disrupting global trade through the Red Sea. The YAF paused its attacks temporarily in January after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was reached.
However, the US launched a major bombing campaign on Yemen in March after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reimposed a blockade on Gaza, blocked the ceasefire from reaching its second stage, and renewed his bombing campaign of the strip, killing over 500 Palestinians in one night.
Military experts have warned that Yemeni forces will not be easily defeated despite the show of force, the New York Times noted on 27 March.
James R. Holmes, a US Naval War College naval strategy expert, cautioned that air power alone is unlikely to succeed. “You have to control turf to win,” he said. “Aircraft cannot occupy territory, however valuable a supporting capability they are.”
The NYT suggested that, far from weakening the group, US strikes may bolster Ansarallah’s standing within Yemen and internationally. At the same time, commercial shippers continue to avoid the Red Sea in favor of longer but safer routes.
CNN reported that by early April, the total cost of the US military’s operation in Yemen had reached nearly $1 billion in just under three weeks, even as the attacks have had limited impact on destroying the group’s capabilities.
The military offensive had already used hundreds of millions of dollars worth of munitions for strikes against Yemen, including JASSM long-range cruise missiles, JSOWs, which are GPS-guided glide bombs, and Tomahawk missiles, sources speaking with CNN said.
