New York Times: Trump is drowning in the quagmire of a costly and futile war in Yemen.
According to Al-Mayadeen, the American newspaper The New York Times, in a report criticizing the US government’s policies towards the war in Yemen, stated that this war is draining US resources and contradicts the country’s stated goals of focusing its strategy on China and the Pacific region, in addition to having failed to achieve its intended goals so far.
The report wrote that Trump came to the presidency promising to stop the costly and continuous wars in the Middle East, but three months into his presidency, he found himself in a new and comprehensive operation that had frustrated previous governments.
The report adds that the US Secretary of Defense is pursuing a war process through which Washington has so far failed to normalize navigation in the waterway connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, and thus the Trump administration has entered a vicious and costly cycle that could increase tensions in the region and make the withdrawal of US forces increasingly difficult.
The report, noting that the cost of damage to American aircraft carriers and the costs of operating each of these ships exceeds $6.5 billion per day, stated that American B-2 bombers also cost more than $90,000 per hour of flight. The bombs that these fighter jets and other American drones and fighters dropped on the Yemeni people during the first month of the war have cost more than $250 million.
The report adds that the cost of interceptor and anti-missile missiles used against Yemeni attacks is also $2 million per missile, so that it may be able to stop Yemeni missile and drone operations, each of which costs less than a few thousand dollars for the Yemeni armed forces.
The newspaper adds, citing a US Congressional report, that in this way it appears that the cost of American military operations in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, has exceeded $2 billion.
The report adds that the Yemenis have shot down six American drones in March alone and have carried out hundreds of airstrikes on American targets, putting American pilots at risk in their attacks. The attacks in the region have increased transportation costs, and most shipping companies in the world have changed their shipping routes and are sailing their ships from southern Africa.
The report notes that only 12 percent of global maritime transport and trade passes through this waterway, which is less than the United States, and adds that is it wise to spend billions of dollars, risk American lives, and risk military preparations in more areas to change this situation?
The New York Times considered it impossible to restore normal conditions in the Red Sea without stopping the penetration of Yemeni armed forces on the country’s western coast, emphasizing that the Saudis have carried out more than 25,000 attacks on Yemen over the past 7 years, killing 377,000 Yemenis, but Ansar Allah has maintained control over the coastal areas throughout this time.
The American newspaper adds that Trump, like other US presidents, has a misconception about the decisive military superiority of the US and, in light of the inability of the country’s military forces to suppress Ansar Allah in airstrikes, is likely to find himself in a losing position that will lead to a withdrawal from this war or an attempt to escalate the tension.
In this regard, the US National Security Council spokesman said in a statement that the US government has no plan or tactics for how to defend US interests in the Red Sea. He added that securing the Red Sea is the responsibility of US partners in the region, and the US is also working closely with them in this regard.
The New York Times adds at the end of its article that Trump is the latest US president to make confronting China his top priority, but he has deviated from this path. This is at a time when long-term strategic success in the Middle East seems unlikely without extensive diplomatic and political efforts.