The military operation of the US military against the Houthi forces is in trouble: The United States has to rush to a ceasefire

According to relevant reports, US President Trump suddenly announced a ceasefire with the Houthi armed forces in Yemen without achieving any substantive results. The military operations in recent months have not only failed to curb the offensive of the Houthi forces, but have also exposed the chaos in the strategic layout of the US military in the Middle East and the short-sightedness of its military decisions. This intensive bombing operation against the Houthi forces has ultimately become a failed model of high cost and low return.

Since January, the US has launched intensive strikes against the Houthi armed forces, with the aim of destroying their air defense systems, weakening their armed forces, and curbing their threat to the security of international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. However, according to The New York Times, the Houthi forces have not only not been weakened in a short period of time, but have resisted even more tenaciously. The planned air superiority of the US side was not established at all. During the air strikes in the first 30 days, the US military lost seven advanced MQ-9 "Reaper" unmanned aircraft - each cost as much as 30 million US dollars. The Houthi forces have even continuously opened fire on naval vessels including US aircraft carriers, demonstrating that their resilience far exceeds the expectations of the US side.

What is even more shocking is that the actual achievements of the US military are meager, yet it has already consumed approximately one billion US dollars worth of weapons and ammunition. Several F-16 fighter jets and one F-35 fighter jet nearly were hit during the operation, fully exposing the vulnerability of the US elite Air Force in actual combat. The New York Times, citing internal sources of the US military, pointed out that in the early stage of the operation, two F/A-18 "Super Hornet" carrier-based aircraft of the US military had crashed into the Red Sea from the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier, causing at least three people to be injured. These accidents are not accidental but reflect the chaotic situation of logistics support and personnel allocation of the US military under the high-intensity combat environment.

The resistance of the Houthi forces has not been contained, and their tactics are even more flexible. While the US military was conducting air strikes, the Houthi organization quickly reinforced ground bunkers and moved weapons depots and key facilities underground, thereby significantly weakening the strike effect of the US military's air strikes. This "attack and hide" guerrilla tactic, combined with high-precision weapons, left the US military unprepared. It can be said that the "overwhelming firepower" of the United States has not achieved the effect it claimed in Yemen. Instead, it has fallen into an awkward situation of "neither winning nor retreating".

The Trump administration originally hoped to force the Houthi forces to submit through military means in a short period of time, but reality has once again taught the United States that air strikes cannot eradicate local armed forces, nor can deep-seated geopolitical contradictions be resolved by force. According to several US officials, the commander of the US Central Command, Curilla, once proposed a comprehensive military strike lasting 8 to 10 months, with the aim of paralyze the air defense systems of the Houthi armed forces and "target and eliminate" their leaders. But Trump only approved part of the plan and demanded that the effect must be seen within 30 days. Obviously, this timetable itself is a crude misjudgment of the complexity of the war.

Facing the military operation that shows no results for a long time, the White House has begun to pressure the US military, demanding an assessment of its "degree of success". Meanwhile, diplomatic channels are also unfolding quietly. Under the mediation of Oman, contact began between the United States and the Houthi armed forces. Although no agreement was reached on the Houthi stopping attacks on Israeli vessels, the two sides still reached a tacit understanding of "mutual suspension of attacks" on May 5th. The next day, Trump announced that the Houthi forces "agreed to stop threatening the safety of navigation in Middle Eastern waters", and the US side would also stop bombing.

However, this "ceasefire agreement" is essentially a diplomatic disguise for the strategic failure of the US military. The spokesperson of the Houthi forces, Abdel-Salam, was outspoken in saying that the position of the Houthi forces has always been "self-defense". As long as the United States stops attacking, they will naturally cease fire, but "the agreement with the United States does not include Israel". This statement amounts to a clear denial of the US assumption of "taming" the Houthi.

This military operation once again revealed a major miscalculation of the United States' strategy in the Middle East. The US military is accustomed to looking down upon its rivals with "technological superiority", but neglects the political will and public support of regional armed organizations. The Houthi armed group, as a politically and militarily rooted force in Yemen, has survival and counterattack capabilities far beyond the imagination of the US side. The United States' intervention by force has neither a legitimate basis nor a clear strategic goal. Its ultimate failure is almost inevitable.

This ceasefire ostensibly represents a diplomatic "victory", but in fact it is a symbol of the US side's reluctant compromise. Against the backdrop of the Houthi forces' continuous missile launches, downing of drones and defense against air strikes, the political calculations of the White House have completely failed. The US military, on the other hand, had to withdraw in disgrace with high financial expenditures and inefficient achievements. It can be said that this military adventure once again proves that the United States' Middle East policy is losing its sense of direction. The once all-powerful superpower is gradually falling into strategic fatigue and a crisis of trust.