Yemen Monitor / Washington / Agencies:
American news network CNN reported on Friday that the total cost of the U.S. military operation against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen is approaching $1 billion in less than three weeks, despite the fact that the attacks have had a limited impact on degrading the group’s capabilities.
Sources told CNN that the military campaign, which began on March 15, has already consumed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of munitions to carry out strikes against the group. These included long-range JASSM cruise missiles, JSOW glide bombs guided by GPS, and Tomahawk missiles.
Officials said this week that B-2 bombers launched from Diego Garcia are also being used against the Houthis. Additionally, an extra aircraft carrier, along with several fighter squadrons and air defense systems, will soon be deployed to the U.S. Central Command area.
One source indicated that the Pentagon will likely need to request additional funding from Congress to continue the operation, though it may not be granted—since the campaign has already faced criticism from both political sides. Even Vice President J.D. Vance stated in a Signal conversation published by The Atlantic last week that he believed the operation was a “mistake.”
The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the actual impact of the daily U.S. military strikes on the Houthis. In recent days, officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the State Department briefed Congress, saying the strikes had killed several Houthi leaders and destroyed some of their military sites.
However, they acknowledged that the group remains capable of fortifying its hideouts and keeping its weapon stockpiles underground—just as it has done during more than a year of strikes carried out by the Biden administration, according to sources. One defense official said it’s difficult to accurately determine how many weapons the Houthis still possess.
One source familiar with the operation said, “We’ve destroyed some sites, but it hasn’t affected the Houthis’ ability to keep attacking ships in the Red Sea or downing US drones. Meanwhile, we’re exhausting our resources—munitions, fuel, and deployment time.”
The operational pace of the strikes has also increased since U.S. Central Command commander Erik Kurilla no longer requires top-level approval to carry out attacks—a shift from the Biden administration’s approach and a return to early Trump-era policies, when military leaders were granted more autonomy to execute missions aimed at achieving “strategic impact,” without requiring White House approval for each individual strike.
