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We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis…and Lost
Ron Paul Institute ^ | June 17 | Former Rep, Ron Paul

Posted on 06/17/2024 9:51:42 AM PDT by RandFan

Why does it seem the Pentagon is far better at spending money than actually putting together a successful operation? The failed “Operation Prosperity Guardian” and the disastrous floating Gaza pier are but two recent examples of enormously expensive initiatives that, though they no-doubt enriched military contractors, were incapable of meeting their stated goals.

To great fanfare, last December the Pentagon announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a joint US/UK military operation to halt the Yemeni Houthi disruption of Israel-linked commercial shipping through the Red Sea. The Houthis announced their policy in response to civilian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, but when the US and UK military became involved they announced they would target US and UK shipping as well.

The operation was supposed to be quick and easy. After all, the rag-tag Houthi militia was no match for the mighty US and UK navies. But it didn’t work out that way at all. Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal published a devastating article revealing that after spending more than one billion dollars on munitions alone, the operation had failed to deter the Houthis and failed to re-open commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The Journal reported that Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, recently told Congress that “the U.S.-led effort has been insufficient to deter the militant group’s targeting of ships and that the threat will ‘remain active for some time.’”

Meanwhile, the article informed us that a continued US effort to fight the Houthis over Red Sea shipping was “not sustainable.” Perhaps the most revealing part of the article comes from a Washington military expert, Emily Harding of CSIS: “Their supply of weapons from Iran is cheap and highly sustainable, but ours is expensive, our supply chains are crunched, and our logistics tails are long.”

It is reminiscent of a recollection by Col. Harry G. Summers of a discussion he had with North Vietnamese Col. Tu: “You know, you never defeated us on the battlefield,” said Summers. Tu paused for a moment, then replied, “That may be so. But it is also irrelevant.”

Similarly, the US military spent a quarter of a billion dollars building a temporary floating pier to deliver aid to the starving Palestinians even though a land route already existed and would have been far cheaper to use. The project was doomed from the beginning, as days after opening stormy weather broke up the pier and washed part of it up on Israel’s shore. The US military managed to gather the pieces together again, but in total only a few aid trucks managed to use it before, over the weekend, the pier was again disassembled for fear of another weather-related break-up.

The only thing the pier was good for, it seems, was assisting the Israeli military in a Gaza raid on June 8th that killed 270 Palestinian civilians.

As neocons inside the Beltway continue to plot war with China over Taiwan, it seems someone should notice the trouble we have had dealing with Houthis and floating piers. For now, the growth in military spending seems unlimited, but increasing spending bringing diminishing results raises the question of just how much bang are we getting for our bucks?

We have the most expensive military on earth, they say. That may be true, but it is also irrelevant.


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; Hamas; Iran; Politics/Elections; War on Terror; Yemen
KEYWORDS: antiuspropaganda; demoralization; houthiballsofsteel; houthis; houthishaveguts; houthishavemorals; randlovesthehouthi; redsea; ronpaulloveshouthis; rupaul; yemen
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To: RandFan

Not noticing 500,000 ChiComm troops mustered on the Korean border in 1950 set the stage for a multi-decade cascade of screw-ups.


21 posted on 06/17/2024 10:35:35 AM PDT by sergeantdave (AI training involves stealing content from creators and not paying them a penny)
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To: RandFan

I guess it’s better than the squandering hundred to $200 billion To Ukraine to lose to Russia?


22 posted on 06/17/2024 10:35:57 AM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.)
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To: econjack

The media bears a LOT of responsibility in how politicians direct war. I agree, the ROE should be left up to the commanders.


23 posted on 06/17/2024 10:51:34 AM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: RandFan

I was concerned until I saw it was Ron Paul’s spew.


24 posted on 06/17/2024 10:56:43 AM PDT by Redleg Duke (“Who is John Galt?”)
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To: econjack

You’ve described the problem but still missed it. We engage in military operations to enforce our foreign policy objectives…thus we fight “wars” without actually declaring war.


25 posted on 06/17/2024 11:03:40 AM PDT by ARW
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To: Sequoyah101

Trouble is/was that the Big Guy announced it during the State of the Union Address, so the military had to comply. I’ve read that the Army pier is/was designed for use in existing harbors that have been damaged/destroyed by war or natural disaster, not on an open coast subject to winds, tides and waves.

On top of that, the Army and Navy have pretty much abandoned the equipment needed to perform such an operation. At least two Army vessels suffered major accidents in getting to the Mediterranean Sea.

Then there’s the whole business of a non-state actor being able to hold off the United States Navy causing U.S. flagged ships from transiting the Red Sea and Suez Canal.


26 posted on 06/17/2024 11:06:14 AM PDT by hanamizu ( )
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To: nickcarraway
we just had to prove to Saudi Arabia we were behind them?

the 50 year contract with Saudi Arabia expired last week

the petro dollar no longer exists

27 posted on 06/17/2024 11:19:58 AM PDT by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: RandFan

All is well- according to S4B...


28 posted on 06/17/2024 11:31:54 AM PDT by mabarker1 ( (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress!!!)
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To: RandFan

The “Military-Industrial Complex”, as Ike dubbed it, is criminal and has wasted Trillions of dollars.

Laws must change and be ENFORCED to:

a. ...outlaw all lobbying of our weak, incompetent, gutless Congress men and women by military vendors and contractors. Penalties should be a minimum of 5 years in prison.

b. outlaw hiring of former Congress men and women AND military personnel by military vendors or contractors.

c. Pass a constitutional ammendment cementing Term Limits just like we do for President.


29 posted on 06/17/2024 11:32:44 AM PDT by Cen-Tejas
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To: econjack

I think the same thing happened to coalition forces in Afghanistan. Too restrictive and too many ROEs.


30 posted on 06/17/2024 11:40:48 AM PDT by Sam Gamgee
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To: RandFan

It’s all about leadership particularly the lack of it!


31 posted on 06/17/2024 12:16:09 PM PDT by existentially_kuffer
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To: RandFan

Joe Biden loses so much, we keep telling him, “will you fight to win, Mr. President. We’re tired of your whining.” And he answers, “It’s no fair expecting me to fight to win and stop whining. Stop being unfair to me! MAGA extremists.”


32 posted on 06/17/2024 12:20:46 PM PDT by Eleutheria5 (Every Goliath has his David. Child in need of a CGM system. https://gofund.me/6452dbf1. )
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To: RandFan; All

This total doesn’t include the cost of replacing the 5 Reaper drones that the Houthis have shot down.

https://theaviationist.com/2024/05/12/mq-9-reaper-gets-cyber-capabilities/

approx replacment cost was $64 million EACH in 2020, so who knows how much now.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a31453649/mq-9-reaper-replacement/


33 posted on 06/17/2024 12:44:32 PM PDT by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
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To: RandFan
Good article in a general way, but too much assumption that "winning" in the traditional sense is even a real goal.

The money spent went somewhere didn't it? That was the goal.

34 posted on 06/17/2024 4:06:28 PM PDT by Salman (It's not a slippery slope if it was part of the program all along. )
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To: rdcbn1

That’s precisely what’s going on in Uke-ville.


35 posted on 06/17/2024 4:31:54 PM PDT by nicollo (Remember when we had to close tags?)
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To: Jim Robinson

The total for Ukraine makes your eyes water. Don’t forget the billions from Europe.

They dont want it to end!

Hopefully no MORE...


36 posted on 06/18/2024 12:25:51 AM PDT by RandFan
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To: Erik Latranyi

Bingo.


37 posted on 06/18/2024 12:31:57 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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