President Donald Trump has claimed that recent U.S. airstrikes in Yemen have “decimated” the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group, but officials behind closed doors are painting a very different picture. According to a New York Times report published Friday, Pentagon officials have quietly acknowledged that the strikes have fallen short of expectations, failing to dismantle the Houthis’ fortified underground weapons infrastructure. The report reveals growing frustration within the Defense Department, where sources admit that U.S. forces are struggling to inflict lasting damage on the Iran-backed group’s deeply embedded arsenal. Despite increasingly intense operations ordered under the Trump administration, the Pentagon has reportedly refrained from publicly disclosing the full scale of the strikes or their limited effectiveness. “The underground bunkers are well-fortified,” said one official quoted in the Times. “We underestimated how prepared they were.” Behind the scenes, the cost of the campaign is mounting. The U.S. has already spent an estimated $200 million in munitions alone, a figure that excludes the deployment of two aircraft carriers, personnel, and other military assets in the region. One congressional source told the Times that total expenses could hit $1 billion by next week. The United States has also dedicated substantial resources to protecting Israel, its key ally in the region, from Houthi aerial threats. The use of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to intercept incoming missiles can cost between $12 million and $15 million per use, according to Israeli media outlet Walla. Despite the pressure on Israel from frequent Houthi missile fire, a source told the Jerusalem Post that the U.S. had advised Israel against striking Houthi positions, instead opting to take the lead in the sustained offensive. While Israeli Air Force strikes have successfully targeted Houthi sites in the past, U.S. officials believe American forces—bolstered by aircraft carriers and long-range precision weapons—are better equipped for prolonged engagement. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)