Above photo: AFP via Getty Images.
‘Hundreds Of Millions Blown For Minimal Success.’
Despite a year of US and British attacks, the Yemeni Armed Forces have managed to reinforce military sites and retains the ability to target both US warships and the depths of Israel.
The US military has used $200 million in munitions since it restarted its campaign against Yemen over two weeks ago – the success of which has been “limited,” according to a 4 April report by the New York Times (NYT).
The report comes as US President Donald Trump has been boasting about the success of Washington’s campaign against the Ansarallah resistance movement, which he says has been “decimated.”
“In closed briefings in recent days, Pentagon officials have acknowledged that there has been only limited success in destroying the Houthis’ vast, largely underground arsenal of missiles, drones and launchers,” anonymous congressional aides and officials told NYT.
The sources say Ansarallah and the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) – which are merged – have managed to reinforce many of their military sites.
“In just three weeks, the Pentagon has used $200 million worth of munitions, in addition to the immense operational and personnel costs to deploy two aircraft carriers, additional B-2 bombers and fighter jets, as well as Patriot and THAAD air defenses to the Middle East,” according to the officials.
The total cost of the campaign could likely surge past $1 billion by next week, the NYT report notes. It adds that many precision bombs are being used, including advanced ones, which is starting to cause concern about the navy’s stocks within the Pentagon.
Pentagon planners are particularly worried about a situation where the US would have to repel a potential Chinese attempt to invade Taiwan.
US officials, including Trump, have boasted that the strikes have been effective, and have taken out command infrastructure and key figures in Ansarallah.
“The Iran-backed Houthi Terrorists have been decimated by the relentless strikes over the past two weeks. Many of their fighters and leaders are no longer with us,” Trump said this week.
US authorities have not specified the names of any Ansarallah or YAF leaders that have been targeted. Sanaa has also not confirmed whether any of its key figures have been assassinated.
The US bombing of Yemen started under former US president Joe Biden’s government in January 2024, at the height of the YAF’s campaign of pro-Palestine naval operations against Israeli-linked shipping. It has now been renewed with severe intensity under Trump’s administration following Sanaa’s vow to reimpose the naval blockade on Israel.
Yemen also restarted missile and drone attacks on Israel after the renewal of the war on Gaza, and has once again been responding to Washington’s attacks with operations targeting US warships in the Red Sea – including the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
The YAF targeted the Truman with missiles and drones several times over the past few days. According to the US army, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier has been deployed and is on its way to aid the Truman carrier in the Red Sea.
Last year, US navy officials acknowledged that confrontations with Yemeni forces marked the most intense naval combat Washington has faced since the Second World War.
When Yemeni attacks on Israel and Israeli-linked shipping began in 2023 – in response to the war on Gaza – Washington formed an international naval coalition under the name Prosperity Guardian, which gained little traction and failed to deter Sanaa from continuing its attacks.
Very few nations offered to contribute warships and others only deployed a mere handful of staff officers.
An EU military mission in the Red Sea also suffered a similar failure.
The YAF has shot down three US MQ-9 Reaper drones since early March. In total, at least 17 MQ-9 drones have been shot down by Yemeni forces since January last year. Each of these drones costs approximately $30 million.
Between January and June 2024, the US spent about $1 billion in its campaign against Yemen.
While failing to deter Ansarallah, US airstrikes on Yemen have been deadly, killing women and children and compounding an already severe humanitarian crisis that the country has been facing for years due to a Saudi-led war and blockade that began in 2015.
US military aircraft bombed a reservoir in the Mansouriya district of Al-Hodeidah governorate in western Yemen this week, cutting off water to more than 50,000 people. The US has also twice bombed a cancer hospital in the country’s north.
Aid organizations have said their ability to operate in Yemen and help those in need is being negatively affected by Washington’s campaign.
