These costly US attacks failed to achieve their goals, but were conducted in order to inflict a blow against Yemen, for daring to challenge the Israelis.
According to reports, the US military is preparing to back a ground campaign inside Yemen that is aimed at capturing the strategic port city of Hodeidah. Such a war would not only prove devastating to the civilian population and cost US taxpayers billions, but it would be launched entirely for Israeli interests.
The starting point in understanding US President Donald Trump’s ongoing aerial campaign, which has murdered around 150 civilians in Yemen, is that this costly assault is being conducted for Israel’s interests alone. Even worse is that it is specifically being carried out in order to allow the Israeli military to refuse to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Now, as reports pour in speculating that a US-backed 80,000 strong force is preparing for a major offensive aimed at crippling the Yemeni government, led by Ansrallah out of Sana’a, there are two important starting points from which this conflict has to be understood:
1) The US offensive is being launched for Israel’s interests, not that of Yemen nor “international shipping”.
2) What the corporate media will call the “Internationally Recognized Government” is led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite UN recognition.
Prior to delving into the relevant timeline that lays out precisely why it is an indisputable fact that the US, under both Biden and Trump, has launched military operations solely aimed at supporting Israeli interests, it is important to acknowledge that Western corporate media lie about almost every aspect of the conflict in Yemen.
In fact, when the Western media have even bothered to cover it in any depth at all over the past decade of war, it has often been to either score political points or focus on the humanitarian crisis solely.
A War for Israel
On October 19, 2023, after Israel had already murdered over 4,137 Palestinians in its war against Gaza, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that they had launched their first missile attack at the Israeli-owned Port of Eilat. This action did not result in any damage to Israeli infrastructure and was conducted explicitly in support of Gaza.
Then, by November 19, and as the death toll in Gaza climbed to 13,000, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, subsequently announced that the Sana’a government had decided to impose a complete blockade on all Israeli-linked ships heading through the Red Sea.
Yemen’s ruling Ansarallah Party would then go on to announce that they were taking such drastic measures against Israeli ships or shipping linked to Israel alone, as a form of humanitarian intervention to end the Genocide in Gaza. From day one of the Red Sea blockade, which Yemen successfully imposed, the conditions were crystal clear that when Israel agrees to a ceasefire, the blockade ends.
At this point in the Gaza genocide, the US Biden administration dared not even mention the word ceasefire, and it would take them some time before even advocating a temporary truce, against the wishes of the majority of Democratic Party voters. Therefore, after the Port of Eilat saw a reduction of activity by 85% in the first month alone, as a result of Yemen’s blockade, Washington decided to act, but not diplomatically; instead, they decided on costly military action.
In December, the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, announced the beginning of “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, a multinational military effort aimed at defeating Ansarallah and ending the blockade. Immediately after the US-led military effort began, there was, then, a media campaign that sought to claim that the Biden administration was acting to protect “international shipping”, specifically to Europe.
However, up until the point when British and US airstrikes were being frequently launched against Yemen, the Yemeni Armed Forces only targeted shipping linked to Israel. They began imposing a ban on ships linked to the US and UK when they themselves launched direct attacks on Yemen’s soil. In its totality, Operation Prosperity Guardian ended up costing around 600 million dollars per month and failed to achieve its objectives, while the affair cost global shipping 200 billion dollars in 2024.
Additionally, the US-led military effort, combined with later Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s civilian infrastructure, ended up contributing towards the internal displacement of around 500,000 people and helped put a further 1.3 million people into poverty, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance.
Now, with Donald Trump’s new attack on Yemen, the civilian death toll has dramatically risen, and the already dire humanitarian situation inside the country has intensified. The Trump administration’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation has impacted international aid efforts that were attempting to help some 19.5 million in need. The latest US assault is costing the American taxpayer roughly double the monthly cost of Biden’s military operation.
When the Gaza ceasefire went into effect on January 19, Yemen ended its blockade and stopped firing munitions at Israel. They only renewed the blockade, exclusively on Israeli-linked vessels, when the Israeli PM announced they were tearing up the ceasefire. Then, like clockwork, Donald Trump’s government launches a military campaign just like Biden did, claiming to be defending international shipping and Europe.
These costly US attacks failed to achieve their goals, but were conducted in order to inflict a blow against Yemen, for daring to challenge the Israelis and place pressure upon them in order to bring about a ceasefire.
Both Trump and Biden had neither a popular mandate nor Congressional approval, yet decided to waste key assets and munitions that were supposed to be held in reserve for major military challenges like China and even Iran. Knowing that it is a bad look for the pro-Israel Lobby to have clearly influenced the two military operations, and with full knowledge that the assaults on Yemen are solely for Israeli interests, undermining international trade and costing the US military, a disinformation campaign was started to cover up the truth.
The Media’s Blatant Lies About Yemen
Without delving too deep into the history of Yemen itself, it suffices to say that the Western corporate media purposely misinform the public and fail to provide even the most elementary understanding to their viewers/readers when it comes to the situation there.
The organization/party you often hear referred to as “the Houthis”, is not even called that and goes by their real name, “Ansarallah”. To deal with this point briefly, it is entirely by design that they are called “the Houthis”, due to it framing the group as a tribalistic militant force that operates as a rogue militia group.
You will also hear them referred to as an “Iranian proxy”, which is blatantly false. Although Iran has allied itself with Ansarallah, they did not help create the organization, nor do they have a say over decision-making processes there, and no such evidence exists to support the notion that they do.
Over a decade ago, there may have been an argument suggesting that Ansarallah was more of a Hezbollah-style group, yet in 2015, when they took over the Capital, Sana’a, they formed an official government. Ansarallah leads the government, but also works with a range of political parties, even including socialist groups.
When Ansarallah ousted former President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, it was not a simple military coup but preceded a revolution and waves of protests thereafter in Yemen. Hadi later fled Yemen for Saudi Arabia, the historic enemy of Yemen, and received their backing in order to launch a war to recapture the nation’s Capital. This war effort received the full support of then-US President Barack Obama.
Later, the US, UK, and Israelis would provide support for the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive, which used the former Yemeni President’s loyalists in attempts to defeat the new government in Sana’a. It is important to note that when Ansarallah took the Capital, the majority of Yemen’s armed forces sided with them. Today, the government in Sana’a rules over the majority of the Yemeni population and operates as a State power.
However, the Saudi-backed deposed President, Hadi, continued to enjoy his official title and remained the leader of what is now called the “internationally backed government”. Yet, this “internationally backed government” led its opposition force, allying itself with Saudi Arabia and even groups like Al-Qaeda and Daesh, from the safety of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh.
Eventually, in 2022, Hadi ceded power to the unelected and dysfunctional “Presidential Leadership Council”, which created an alliance between the Saudi-backed and UAE-backed factions in Yemen.
Another important thing to keep in mind here is that there has recently been a series of social media users sharing maps of Yemen, showing that the majority of the territory of the country is not under the Sana’a government’s control. This is true, but most of these areas are not populated and the majority of the nation’s population is indeed governed by the Ansarallah-led leadership. Furthermore, civilians living under the governance of Sana’a actually have less poverty than those living outside their areas of control, this is despite the immense wealth of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which back the opposition.
The importance of the territory not under Sana’a’s control is that this is where the majority of the country’s vast oil and gas reserves are located, some of which are under the control of US forces stationed there, similar to how coalition forces “guard” Syria’s natural resources. There is also the question of South Yemen and the city of Aden, which is crucial to any Yemeni State, yet had long been divided from the north historically.
None of these details, provided in the brief summary above, are made clear in Western corporate media. Instead, just as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio depicts them, Ansarallah are reduced to a bunch of “sandal-wearing” tribalists. This fictitious depiction of Yemen’s leadership is racist, there is simply no other way of describing it.
Instead of acknowledging the truth about who the US is fighting in Yemen, a government that has achieved astonishing military advancements and is steeped in a civilization dating back thousands of years, it presents them as “savages” who are controlled by Iran. A tactic of dehumanization that led to the deaths of around 400,000 people in Yemen, as a result of the US-backed Saudi war.
If there is indeed a military operation that uses Saudi and Emirati-backed forces, along with Al-Qaeda and Daesh, to launch an offensive aimed at taking the strategic port city of Hodeidah, this will prove catastrophic for all sides involved, especially the civilian population in Yemen. It is speculated that some 80,000 Saudi-Emirati-backed fighters will be used for the offensive, while there could be a ground component performed by US forces.
In the event that this occurs, we should expect missile and drone attacks that successfully strike military, as well as oil and gas infrastructure, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Meanwhile, US naval vessels would be put in further harm’s way, as it is likely that Yemen’s Armed Forces will begin attempting to sink their vessels, instead of performing defensive operations as they have been.
It is clear that the only reason why the US would need to back such an effort is due to the ineffectiveness of their air campaign, which is evident. Instead of launching another deadly regime change war, the easy alternative would be to simply tell Israel to strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, yet the US would rather waste billions of its taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars in order to wage war on Israel’s behalf.
Another possible outcome is that such an attack could end up backfiring on a strategic level, as Yemen may end up becoming more united as a result of the American offensive. Already, Ansarallah’s campaign against Israel, in defense of Gaza, has made them hugely popular across Yemen, even amongst groups who have traditionally opposed them. Capturing the hearts and minds of Yemen’s tribes is a big deal in the overall domestic conflict.
As previously demonstrated, Ansarallah’s fighters are experienced and relentless. Yet, if they are forced to fight a war that is being waged on Israel’s behalf, where they have to fight the US directly, a whole new level of determination will be summoned. If such a horrific assault is indeed being prepared, it is unlikely to prove successful and will certainly lead to a huge catastrophe that could result in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
one day Qaza safe
Another excellent, well-laid-out, very informative piece by Robert Inlakesh. My US government has always been the instigator of all wars going back decades. They armed and financed both sides in WW2, in Vietnam, most wars leading up to the recent continuation of the slaughter in Gaza. The ZioNazis cannot be trusted. They would rather murder all the women and children so there’s no one to oppose them stealing land over the next 20 years. They have no rights because they are an illegal, immoral state. There never was an ” Israel ” , it’s always been called, Palestine. The ZioNazis are a detriment to the very small handful of good, decent Jews who reside there in occupied Palestine.
The killings of Palestinian babies and children by Israeli snipers is on a scale not seen this century! The complicit silence and increasing military aid to Israel and diplomatic vetos and supporting genocide will soon end!