The Pentagon has spent $200 million in ammunition in just three weeks during Operation Rough Rider against Houthi rebels, officials say.
This week, President Trump said Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen had been “decimated by the relentless strikes” he ordered on March 15.
However, the Pentagon and the military privately tell Congress and allied countries this.
In closed briefings in recent days, Pentagon officials acknowledged that progress in destroying the Houthis' vast, mostly underground arsenal of missiles, drones and launchers had been limited, congressional aides and allies said.
Officials familiar with the confidential damage assessment say the bombings have consistently been more powerful than those carried out by the Biden administration and far larger than what the Defense Department has described publicly.
But the Houthi militants, known for their resilience, have fortified many of their bunkers and other target sites, making it difficult for the Americans to disrupt the militias' rocket attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, said three congressional and allied officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
In just three weeks, the Pentagon has burned through $200 million in munitions, officials say, in addition to the massive operating and personnel costs of deploying two aircraft carriers, additional B-2 bombers and fighter jets, and Patriot and THAAD air defense systems to the Middle East.
