Yet that’s exactly what happened and the US public are not only okay with it, but eager to repeat it again.

So now I am taking bets on how much time and money do you think the US will lose in the Middle East to achieve nothing except looking foolish in the eyes of the world.

  • مهما طال الليل@lemm.eeOPM
    18·
    4 months ago

    Yes it is. The Israeli port of Eilat for example went bankrupt due to the blockade by the Yemeni forces.

    To date, the US has lost at least three Reaper drones over Yemen, each costing $30m.

    Estimates of the total cost of the operation range between $260m and $573m per month – that is, between $1.8bn and $4bn so far.

    None of the US and its allies’ actions in the Red Sea have stopped the disruption of shipping lanes. Shipping and insurance costs have soared.

    President Biden himself has admitted that the strikes against Houthis do not work. Yet, he has refused to stop them even as experts are suggesting that “strategic inaction” may in fact be more effective. He has also refused to use the most effective way to stop the Houthis: to press Israel into putting an end to the genocide in Gaza. The Houthis have repeatedly made clear that their attacks will stop as soon as there is a ceasefire.

    US foreign policy fails again, this time against the Houthis

      • مهما طال الليل@lemm.eeOPM
        28·
        4 months ago

        True. This is something that I need to work on and improve. I am aware of it but don’t know how to mitigate it.

        To me it looks like my response is well cited with numbers and quotes, but I know that it comes across as abrasive and I don’t know where this failure is happening.

        Thank you for the honest feedback.

        • greenshirtdenimjeans@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          4 months ago

          I might’ve been unfair in my reply but I also think we both have different criteria for what we think winning and losing looks like. The numbers you cited, whether true or not, don’t really mean much in this situation. 3 $30m drones is literally nothing compared to the full military budget. The other numbers, and I might be wrong, were already budgeted for so either way, the US was going to spend that money.

          So to me, looking at just the costs doesn’t really convince me either way. Now if we look at the live situation, it’s basically ‘the west’ attempting to shoot down the Houthi attacks. More of a defensive strategy in my eyes.

          Just as an example, look back at that swarm Iran sent at Israel. Do you really think the US is incapable of doing the same bombardment on Yemen?

          • مهما طال الليل@lemm.eeOPM
            16·
            4 months ago

            Has the US achieved any of its goals against Yemen? What has the prosperity guardian guarded?

            Or to put it differently. When did the US lose against Taliban? In 2001? Or in 2021?

            Taking out Iranian drones and projectiles cost the US over a billion dollars and required the coordination of multiple countries. In a war of attrition the US will lose, just like in Vietnam and Afghanistan before.

            https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/19/missile-drone-pentagon-houthi-attacks-iran-00132480

            “The cost offset is not on our side,” said one DOD official.

            • greenshirtdenimjeans@sh.itjust.works
              2·
              4 months ago

              You’re just wasting my time at this point without even understanding what you are replying to. Have the Houthis ended the genocide? Isn’t that their goal? Lmao this is why I rarely even bother going back and forth with anyone online, I just get irrelevant BS.