The US bombing campaign in Yemen is rapidly consuming critical long-range weapons needed to deter China in the Asia-Pacific, raising concerns about military readiness in the region.
The United States is reportedly facing growing concerns about its military readiness in the Asia-Pacific region due to the extensive use of long-range precision weapons in the ongoing bombing campaign against Ansarallah in Yemen, ordered by President Donald Trump.
Congressional officials told The New York Times that the Pentagon might soon need to transfer crucial munitions from its Asia-Pacific stockpiles to the Middle East to sustain operations in Yemen.
Moreover, according to the report, “US readiness in the Pacific is also being hurt by the Pentagon’s deployment of warships and aircraft to the Middle East after the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023”.
The deployment of warships, aircraft (including aircraft carriers and B-2 bombers), and air defense systems like Patriot and THAAD is demanding a high operational tempo and creating maintenance challenges.
According to the report, several Trump administration aides think that the US must “prioritize strengthening its forces in the Asia-Pacific region to deter China, which is rapidly building up its military and its nuclear arsenal.”
These officials, who reportedly include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, argue that the weapons being expended in Yemen are the same ones needed to counter potential Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, East China Sea, and the broader Pacific. These critical weapons are currently stored at U.S. bases in Guam, Okinawa, Japan, and other locations in the Western Pacific.
The cost of the Yemen bombing campaign is substantial, according to the New York Times.
Reports indicate that the Pentagon consumed approximately $200 million worth of munitions in just the first three weeks, with total operational and personnel costs exceeding $1 billion.
Despite this significant expenditure, US officials have privately acknowledged to allies and lawmakers that their success in neutralizing Ansarallah’s extensive arsenal has been limited.
“Pentagon officials have told allied counterparts, lawmakers and their aides in closed briefings that the US military has had only limited success in destroying the Houthis’ (Ansarallah’s – PC) vast arsenal of missiles, drones and launchers,” according to the New York Times.
The type of weapons used against Yemen includes “Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships; a type of glide bomb called the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon; and the stealthy AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile”.
According to the report, “those are also exactly the kinds of weapons that American war planners say would be needed to counter an air and naval assault by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the South and East China Seas and the Pacific.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
ZioNism is a disease, a mental disorder. Now it’s spread to Trump; a.k.a., Dondolf Twitler, who is spreading our resources too thin just like Wasrael has done. One of my favorite punk bands from UK is, Crass. Their slogan was, ” Fight War, Not Wars ” …we will not win any of the wars our resident psychopath has in his sights, and we would prefer peace, and cooperation between nations. The US government is paranoid and pursues phantom enemies with their witch-hunts. Enough is enough!