But the administration is unwilling to level with the American people about the costs of war. U.S. Central Command, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the White House are keeping the number of U.S. casualties from this ongoing conflict secret. This amounts to a cover-up. Members of Congress are calling for accountability.
“The administration should be transparent about the number of U.S. casualties from the attacks on the Houthis,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told The Intercept. “I am also working to hold the administration accountable for its unauthorized strikes in Yemen.”
After two decades of intermittent war in Yemen, the U.S. officially launched Operation Rough Rider in March of this year, and has carried out strikes on more than 1,000 targets in Yemen.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has also ramped up conflicts in Iraq, Somalia, and Syria, after running as an anti-war candidate and pitching himself as a “peacemaker.”
The strikes in Yemen are targeting the Iran-backed Houthi government, which began launching attacks on vessels — including U.S. Navy warships — in November 2023 over the war in Gaza. Recent U.S. attacks in response have targeted civilian infrastructure and, according to local reports, killed scores of innocent people.
U.S. troops are also in harm’s way. Earlier this week, a fighter jet fell off the side of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, the Navy said in a statement on Monday.
The Truman reportedly made a sharp turn to evade a Houthi attack, which caused the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter to plunge overboard. One sailor was injured in the chaos, and the $60 million plane was lost to the deep.
“This was a tragic accident, and let’s be clear — neither this service member, nor any of the other service members in Yemen, should have ever been in harm’s way,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told The Intercept.
“Trump’s strikes in Yemen are unconstitutional and Congress must assert its congressional war powers before another service member is injured in the line of duty.”
How many other military personnel have been killed or wounded in the broader U.S. campaign against the Houthis, which began under the Biden administration, is being withheld from the American public.
