by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today announced the creation of a new Administration for a Healthy America as part of a massive overhaul of the U.S. Department of Human Services (HHS), which includes reducing the number of divisions under HHS from 28 to 15 and the number of staff from about 82,000 to 62,000.

Kennedy said the department’s new priority will be to end “America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins” — priorities that “will be reflected in the reorganization of HHS.”

The Administration for a Healthy America will combine several agencies, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

In a statement, Kennedy said:

“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic. This Department will do more — a lot more — at a lower cost to the taxpayer. …

“Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants. This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”

Pediatrician Dr. Michelle Perro said the changes will prioritize “a more streamlined and effective approach to addressing the tsunami of chronic diseases now affecting most Americans.”

“By consolidating the key agencies into the Administration for a Healthy America, we can restructure and better coordinate efforts in primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, and environmental health, which are areas that are pivotal to support the health of children and families,” Perro said.

Sayer Ji, co-founder of Stand for Health Freedom, said HHS had long been “a key architect of policies that have harmed countless individuals, especially during the recent public health crisis” and that “a bold restructuring was not only warranted but long overdue.”

“For too long, health agencies have operated in ‘silos’ with overlapping missions and excessive red tape that obstruct real progress,” said Kendall Mackintosh, a board-certified nutrition specialist. “A leaner, more accountable HHS has the potential to refocus resources on root-cause solutions, transparency and outcomes, not just policy maintenance and administrative overhead.”

As part of the restructuring, HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the agency responsible for national public health emergency and disaster response, will shift to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

HHS will also create the Office of Strategy “to enhance research that informs the Secretary’s policies and improves the effectiveness of federal health programs.” A new assistant secretary for enforcement will help “combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health programs.”

HHS, with a $1.7 trillion budget, oversees 13 agencies, including the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It also manages government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Mainstream news media coverage of the department’s restructuring focused on cuts to HHS staff and programs. According to NBC News, 10,000 full-time jobs across HHS agencies will be cut “as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to restructure many parts of the federal government.”

HHS said the cuts will save $1.8 billion annually. The changes will likely take effect May 27, CNN reported.

NBC News reported that HHS is “potentially jeopardizing public health” by implementing these changes.

But for Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist at Children’s Health Defense, though the focus in the media has been a lot on the number of departments, the number of field offices, or the number of jobs, “none of those are a metric of success. Secretary Kennedy’s tenure will be judged by the improvement of America’s health.”

HHS to gain control over special education, school meal programs

The HHS restructuring comes as the department is set to gain oversight over federal programs supporting special education programs and school meals.

Education Week reported last week that President Donald Trump announced plans to shift these programs to HHS, although a plan for the changes — which require congressional approval — has not been made public.

As part of these changes, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), first signed into law in 1975 and currently one of the U.S. Department of Education’s largest grant programs, would shift to HHS. The $14.2 billion program “helps schools pay for special education services for students with disabilities,” Education Week reported.

According to Education Week, the announced changes would bring IDEA’s early childhood program, Part C, “into the same agency that already oversees the national Head Start network of early childhood programs — a natural fit for collaboration.”

Shifting school meal programs to HHS “may be motivated in part by Kennedy’s pledge to eliminate processed food from school lunches,” Education Week reported, noting that HHS’ authority over school meals is limited to setting nutrition guidelines.

In a statement to reporters last week, Trump said HHS would oversee “special needs and all of the nutrition programs and everything else.”

“I think that will work out very well,” Trump said. “Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education, and then all we have to do is get the students to get guidance from the people that love them and cherish them, including their parents by the way, who will be totally involved in education along with boards and the governors and the states.”

In a post on X, Kennedy said HHS is “fully prepared to take on the responsibility of supporting individuals with special needs and overseeing nutrition programs.”

Zen Honeycutt, founding executive director of Moms Across America and the Neighborhood Food Network, welcomed the announcement. She said:

“Thirty million meals are served at public schools every day. Our children’s health and potential, both with special needs and those without, are greatly affected by the food they eat.

“We have identified widespread contamination of school lunches with heavy metals, pesticides, and veterinary drugs and hormones. The nutrient density is also abysmally low affecting their health, behavior and learning ability.”

Nominee to lead HHS’ Administration of Children and Families focused on child welfare in Idaho

On Tuesday, Trump announced the nomination of Alex Adams, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, as assistant secretary for the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) at HHS.

ACF oversees over 60 programs — including Head Start and the U.S. Children’s Bureau — and has a budget of more than $70 billion.

Adams has led the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare since June 2024. He previously served for five years as administrator of the Governor’s Division of Financial Management. He also was executive director of the Idaho Board of Pharmacy and interim director of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.

During his tenure, Adams prioritized foster care and adoption and a reduction in regulations and bureaucratic processes. He also focused on expanding resources for childcare in Idaho and addressing the opioid crisis by training additional pharmacists, psychologists and nurse practitioners to provide treatment and prescribe medication.

“We felt like child welfare was that area to really hyperfocus on and make a meaningful difference,” Adams told Boise State Public Radio last year.

In a statement, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) said Adams has “a highly strategic and visionary approach” and “completely transformed and improved Idaho’s child welfare system.”

“I am confident that Adams will serve the American people with pro-family and health-focused policies in mind, and I believe him to be a man of integrity,” said Idaho nurse Laura Demaray.

Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, said Adams’ reforms in Idaho led to greater public input on health policies. She said:

“We have been fighting the health department for over 15 years because they’re always doing horrible things and overstepping their delegated authority and introducing rules that actually contradict code or overstep code.

“What’s actually really happened is now that members of the public of Idaho can actually testify and request that their legislators fix things, whereas before we were talking to a brick wall because they were in the administrative branch’s hands.”

In recent months, Idaho has enacted or pursued policies that health freedom activists have welcomed. In October 2024, Idaho’s Southwest District Health stopped offering COVID-19 vaccines at its 30 locations. Idaho is now considering legislation that would ban mRNA vaccines and prohibit vaccine and medical mandates.

It’s unclear what role Adams had, if any, in these developments.

According to the Idaho Capital Sun, the U.S. Senate received Adams’ nomination Monday, but it is not yet known when his confirmation hearing will be held.\

[…]

Via https://tdefender.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-overhauls-hhs-launches-administration-healthy-america

L Todd Wood

Russian President Putin declared peace is next to impossible with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy in power. He questioned yesterday how Russia could negotiate with an illegitimate government that is not legally elected.

Putin suggested in the speech that the United Nations could be brought in to govern Ukraine, as there is precedence for this action.

Zelenskiy recently said Putin will die soon as negotiations are ongoing with Washington and Ukraine. These are not the actions of a Ukrainian leader who wants peace.

The EU and Zelenskiy, as well as elements within the U.S. government, are working to sabotage any effort by the Trump administration to secure a peace deal in Eastern Europe.

[…]

Via https://tsarizm.com/news/eastern-europe/2025/03/28/putin-says-no-peace-possible-with-zelenskiy-suggests-un-govern-ukraine-in-near-term/

Mahmood Issa

In a press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah in February, U.S. President Donald Trump touted his proposal that the United States should seize control of Gaza, empty it of its roughly two million residents, and redevelop the territory as a tourist area, a “Riviera of the Middle East.” Such a plan is a nonstarter among Arab countries. They perceive it as tantamount to accepting the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Put on the spot, Abdullah demurred and suggested that he awaited an alternative plan for Gaza, one that would be advanced by Egypt.

[…]

The war in Gaza, however, offers Egypt a chance to regain the status it once had in the Arab world. On March 4, Egypt unveiled what it described as “a comprehensive vision for rebuilding Gaza while ensuring Palestinians remain on their land.” This reconstruction plan for Gaza was presented in a 112-page prospectus, complete with maps, AI-generated renderings, a phased five-year timeline, and an estimated budget of about $53 billion. It envisions redeveloped infrastructure, housing units for 1.6 million people, a commercial seaport, a technology hub, industrial zones, beach hotels, and an airport. And it insists, contrary to Trump’s claims, that such real estate development in Gaza is feasible without displacing its residents. Indeed, this was the plan’s principal purpose; its political prescriptions are deliberately vague, outlining a technocratic Palestinian interim administration of the territory, assisted by international peacekeepers. In separate meetings in early March, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Countries backed the Egyptian plan. And the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom commended the plan as “realistic.”

Israel, whose right-wing government seems intent on forcing out the residents of Gaza, rejected the plan immediately. Washington offered mixed messages, with Trump initially dismissing it as unworkable before other administration officials welcomed the initiative. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, called the plan “a good-faith first step from the Egyptians,” suggesting that the Arab proposal was not, in fact, dead on arrival.

[…]

Just by advancing this peace plan for Gaza, Egypt has salvaged the Palestinian aspiration for statehood from Trump’s desire to conjure a showy real estate development deal.

[…]

[Ed What this article doesn’t make clear is that this proposal would remove Hamas from power in Gaza, placing it under the political control of the Palestinian authority. Nor that Hamas is agreeing to the proposal, as they indicated in their meeting with hostage negotiator Adam Boehler. See https://www.jns.org/egypt-proposes-interim-governance-for-gaza-replacing-hamas/ and https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-welcomes-egypts-gaza-reconstruction-plan-2025-03-04/%5D

Via https://www.foreignaffairs.com/egypt/promise-egyptian-plan-gaza

(Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By Will Mccurdy

Amazon Echo users are set to lose the option to store and process their Alexa requests locally, meaning all of their voice recordings will be sent to Amazon’s cloud.

After March 28, Amazon will discontinue the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” setting on Echo devices that support on-device voice recording storage. After that, all your voice recordings will be sent to Amazon’s cloud for processing.

In a recent email sent to customers, Amazon attributed the decision to its expansion of “Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud.” That expansion is Alexa+, a supercharged version of the assistant that acts more like a human. It can search and summarize documents or emails you’ve shared or look up information. Alexa+ will be an Amazon Prime perk or $19.99 per month for non-Prime users.

However, these new Alexa+ features won’t be accessible for consumers who opt out of storing voice recordings with Amazon.

[…]

Via https://au.pcmag.com/ai/110301/reminder-your-alexa-voice-recordings-will-soon-be-sent-to-amazon

An Unholy Triad Birth of a Plague Episode 6

Pure Media Australia (2025)

Film Review

This, the longest episode, delves more into collaboration by Russian, US and Chinese biowarfare research scientists into the gain of function research that produced the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Soviet contribution seems to have been inadvertent, as scores of Russian biowarfare researchers sought employment around the world following dissolution of the Soviet Union. The US/Chinese collaboration at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was deliberate.

US research in the weaponizing Chinese bat coronavirues occurred under the auspices of Project Defuse. The infamous spike protein, with its strong affinity for human cell receptors, originated from bat coronoviruses* from Mojang China after miners fell ill (with three dying) while clearing bat guano.

Independent research reveals immune system damage (resulting in large numbers of strokes, heart attacks, turbo cancers, autoimmune diseases and sudden deaths) is cumulative,  increasing with each successive mRNA booster.

Overall I was a little disappointed in the series because it failed to address some obvious questions:

1. Why do only a minority of mRNA vaccine recipients experience deadly and disabling side effects from Covid 19 vaccines? There seems to be substantial evidence that most of the deaths and disability were associated with specific lot numbers. What about these lots made them more dangerous?

2. Why are the side effects of Covid19 mRNA vaccine more dangerous that natural Covid19 infection?

3. What was the motivation of supposed enemies (China and the US) in collaborating in the production of biowarfare weapons to kill each other>

4. What about the 11,000 secret exemptions the New Zealand Labour government gave New Zealand health workers while they sacked the majority of doctors who sought exemption from the Pfizer mRNA Covid19 vaccine mandate? This would suggest some inside advanced knowledge of the jab’s deadly side effects.

By Ahmed Adel

The US is now the world’s laggard in warship construction, lagging behind most countries in the pace of building military vessels, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US Navy is not struggling alone, though, with close ally Britain not even able to sufficiently replace munitions sent to Ukraine.

“When a Wisconsin shipyard won the contract to build a new class of Navy frigate in 2020, the project was meant to address an embarrassing reality: The US is now the global laggard in building warships,” the article noted.

According to the publication, US military shipbuilding faces several challenges, including outdated equipment in shipyards and labor shortages. In addition, the 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from all countries previously imposed by the US could likely increase the cost of domestically produced materials used by shipbuilders.

An interlocutor familiar with the work schedule told the newspaper that the construction of the new warship USS Constellation, which was supposed to be completed by 2026, is currently only 10% complete.

The Wall Street Journal stressed that the construction delays were caused by the intervention of the US Navy, which wanted to improve the design.

“A blizzard of design changes by the military have put production of the USS Constellation years behind schedule and millions over budget,” the article elaborated.

Furthermore, the publication added that the US is already behind most countries in building warships. Thus, the newspaper concluded that of the 20 different frigates constructed recently or nearly completed by other countries, all but one were or will be built faster than the USS Constellation.

It is recalled that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed on January 31 that the US Navy is struggling to keep its surface combat ships in good condition due to a lack of resources in recent years. The main problems include a shortage of spare parts and qualified personnel and the postponement of maintenance.

According to the report, the US Navy received only about $1 billion of the $24.9 billion requested for maintenance between 2020 and 2023. The difficulty continued throughout 2024.

“The Navy still faces persistent challenges sustaining combat surface ships, including limited spare parts, a lack of sufficient and qualified maintenance personnel, and a continual need to defer maintenance,” the report said.

Amid the US Navy’s difficulties, The National Interest magazine published an article that revealed Russian Project 885M Yasen-M submarines can suddenly fire at US submarines at close range.

“The Yasen-M is meant for close combat with rival submarines. Utilizing its ultra-quiet rigging, these sea monsters can tailgate American or NATO subs, perhaps completely undetected, and then spring an attack on them with their 533 mm torpedoes,” the article said.

The National Interest also believes the same can be said about attacks on surface ships.

“The US Navy (and the navies of its NATO allies) are totally outmatched by the firepower of the Russian Northern Fleet’s Yasen-M-class submarines,” the publication noted.

However, not only did the US Navy face significant issues but also major ally Britain, with the Royal Navy not even sufficiently armed.

Prospect Magazine reported last month that the Royal Navy’s munitions were “running perilously low” as those sent to Ukraine were not yet “adequately replaced,” adding that the fleet of surface ships is “threadbare” and the nuclear submarines “are aging, with Dreadnought-class replacements not expected until the 2030s.”

While the Royal Navy is “threadbare,” China, in comparison, has built ships with a combined displacement greater than the entire British Royal Navy in four years as Beijing becomes a global maritime power.

Between 2019 and 2023, four of China’s main shipyards produced at least 39 warships with a combined displacement of around 550,000 tons. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, this is more than the British Navy’s battle force fleet, which has 19 surface ships and 10 submarines with a total displacement of approximately 440,000 tons.

It is also worth noting that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy already has more military vessels than the US Navy and is on track to have a fleet of 425 units by 2030, significantly more than the 300 expected by the US. In 2022, the Chinese Navy operated a fleet of 351 combat force ships, compared with the US Navy’s 294. However, for now, the US holds an advantage in destroyers and guided missile cruisers.

Nonetheless, the struggles of the US and British navies show that the Anglo Alliance no longer rules the seas. While the US and Britain lag, the Russian and Chinese navies are burgeoning, and it does not appear that the situation will improve in the short term for the Anglo Alliance.

[…]

Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-loses-dominance-sea-slowest-warship-construction-pace/5882743

Let’s start with the obvious: TV drug ads aren’t designed to inform—they’re designed to manipulate. The formula is always the same. Cue soft lighting and sappy piano music. A sad, listless person pops a pill and suddenly life is vibrant again. They’re running through fields, laughing with family, walking dogs across idyllic bridges.

Then, in a breathless voiceover, the side effects come tumbling out like a legal disclaimer roulette wheel—stroke, heart failure, suicidal thoughts. The goal? Make viewers want a drug before they even talk to their doctor. It’s emotional coercion dressed up as health education.

This completely inverts how medicine is supposed to work. Health care decisions should be made inside the exam room, not in a 60-second marketing spot. Patients should go to their doctors with symptoms, and those doctors—armed with clinical training and knowledge of the patient’s full health profile—should decide whether a drug is even necessary.

Many issues could be better addressed through lifestyle changes, diet, supplements, or preventative care. But instead, America has normalized a pill-for-everything culture, supercharged by the fact that doctors are often nudged by patients demanding whatever drug they saw advertised last night during a commercial break.

This isn’t just bad medicine—it’s dangerous. And it’s no accident.

Big Pharma isn’t spending billions on advertising because it cares about your health. It’s doing it because the return on investment is enormous. Studies estimate the ROI on direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads ranges from 100% to 500%, depending on the drug. In 2025 alone, pharmaceutical companies are projected to spend over $5 billion on national linear TV ads, according to iSpot.tv. That number balloons even higher when you include digital and streaming. Just a handful of blockbuster drugs—like Skyrizi, Jardiance, and Ozempic—are burning through tens of millions in TV ads every month.

This revenue isn’t just padding Big Pharma’s pockets—it’s quietly buying influence in the media. Nearly 31% of ad minutes on major nightly news broadcasts in 2024 came from pharmaceutical brands. That means a huge portion of media budgets depend on the very companies they should be holding accountable. And surprise, surprise: when Big Pharma misleads the public, many news outlets are either silent or hesitant to report critically. The financial conflict of interest is baked in.

We saw the worst-case version of this during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel mRNA shots—rushed to market under emergency use—were sold to the public as miracle solutions. Government officials and media outlets claimed these vaccines would “stop infection,” “prevent death entirely,” and “end the pandemic.” Younger, healthy individuals were told they needed them for everyone’s safety, despite already low statistical risk. None of these claims held up. As the data evolved, we learned the vaccines offered some reduction in severe disease, but not sterilizing immunity. Yet the media rarely corrected course.

Why would they? Pharma ads were paying the bills. Meanwhile, federal workers were mandated—and many private sector employees coerced—into getting injections under false pretenses. Billions of dollars flowed to Big Pharma. The American public was misled.

This pattern of deception is not new. Pfizer alone has paid billions in legal penalties over the years for unethical marketing, off-label promotion, and other violations. The most infamous: a $2.3 billion settlement in 2009—the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history at the time. Yet companies like Pfizer, AbbVie, and Johnson & Johnson still enjoy a polished image on TV, thanks in part to relentless ad spending and regulatory leniency.

RFK Jr.’s plan, while legally uphill, is not without precedent. In 1970, President Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned tobacco ads from TV and radio. Cigarettes were legal, yet too dangerous to promote on air. The same principle should apply here. Just because a drug is FDA-approved doesn’t mean it should be marketed like soda. Approval doesn’t equal infallibility—just ask anyone who took Vioxx or OxyContin.

Critics, including the Wall Street Journal, have framed RFK’s proposal as a personal vendetta. That’s both lazy and misleading. In reality, there’s wide bipartisan and public support for reining in pharma ads. The American Medical Association called for a ban back in 2015. A STAT/Harvard poll found that 57% of Americans support banning TV drug ads. Even hosts on CNBC—hardly anti-business—agreed the ads are unnecessary. “Don’t you think doctors should prescribe it if you need it?” asked Joe Kernen. Exactly.

The pharmaceutical industry’s defenders like to invoke the First Amendment, claiming that banning ads would be unconstitutional. But commercial speech does not enjoy absolute protection. Under the Central Hudson test, the government can regulate ads if it has a substantial interest, the regulation directly advances that interest, and the restriction is narrowly tailored. Protecting public health from misleading pharmaceutical marketing clears all three hurdles. Even if a full ban doesn’t survive, tighter restrictions—like banning ads for certain drug classes, or requiring full price transparency—could pass muster.

More importantly, even the threat of a ban could pressure drugmakers to change course voluntarily. They did it before in 2008, when criticism led to updated self-regulatory guidelines. If Kennedy’s push forces them to rethink their practices, that alone is a win.

Pharma companies will no doubt fight this tooth and nail. But that’s not a reason to back down—it’s a reason to press harder. We’ve allowed an industry with an immense profit motive to shape our health decisions for too long. The result? A country drowning in prescriptions, mired in chronic disease, and confused about who to trust.

[…]

Via https://www.thekylebecker.com/p/rfk-jr-is-pushing-big-pharma-ad-ban

Al Mayadeen English

The Yemeni Armed Forces have announced a significant escalation in their military operations, thwarting enemy warships’ advances in the Red Sea.

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) have launched a series of military strikes targeting Israeli and US assets, including Ben Gurion Airport and enemy warships in the Red Sea, according to a statement by the Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

Saree announced that Yemeni forces successfully struck Ben Gurion Airport in occupied Yafa with a Zulfiqar ballistic missile, while a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile hit a military target in the southern part of the area. Both operations achieved their objectives, as per the YAF spokesperson. See https://x.com/i/status/1905240649986641994

In a significant escalation, Yemeni forces also carried out a joint military operation in the Red Sea, targeting US and allied naval forces, including the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier. The attack involved ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.

YAF escalate military operations

Saree added that the Yemeni Armed Forces significantly escalated their military operations, thwarting enemy warships’ advances in the southern Red Sea and launching fresh missile strikes on “Israel”.

In a statement on Thursday, the Yemeni military confirmed that its defensive operations had successfully repelled naval incursions, vowing to continue expanding its military response in the coming days.

“The enemy will witness more of the might of Yemen’s unyielding people—strength, determination, resilience, and unwavering faith,” the statement read.

The YAF also reaffirmed their commitment to blocking Israeli navigation in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, emphasizing their ongoing support for Gaza until the blockade is lifted.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that two missiles were launched from Yemen toward “Israel”, triggering air raid sirens and explosions across central regions. The Israeli military confirmed that missile debris fell on a major highway connecting Tel Aviv to occupied al-Quds, causing widespread panic.

Following the attack, operations at Ben Gurion Airport were temporarily suspended as millions of settlers sought shelter, according to Israeli reports. The escalation follows Yemen’s drone strike on Israeli military targets in occupied Yafa on Wednesday, not to mention military operation targeting the United States Navy Carrier Strike Group 8, which lasted for hours, and a missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport earlier in the week.

It is worth noting that Yemen has vowed, despite the brutal US- UK aggression, to continue its military operations against Israeli targets and maintain its blockade on Israeli maritime activity until the ongoing war on Gaza ends.

US launches new aggression on Yemen with 15 airstrikes

Meanwhile, the US carried out a new aggression with 15 airstrikes on the southern and northeastern outskirts of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday evening, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported.

The airstrikes targeted the Jirban area in the Sanhan district, south of Sanaa, as well as the al-Khadam area and Jabal al-Jamima in the Bani Houshesh district to the east, in addition to the al-Dailami Air Base to the north, according to our correspondent.

He added that eight airstrikes targeted the Jirban area in Sanhan district, while five strikes hit the al-Khadam and Jamima Rajam areas in the Bani Hushaysh district.

Additionally, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that US warplanes bombed the vicinity of Sanaa International Airport.

Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV had earlier reported 17 raids by the United States “on the Saada governorate,” on top of two more on Amran.

The official news agency, SABA, said that “the American aggression targeted the Oncology Hospital building in Saada.”

Sanaa’s Health Ministry confirmed that two civilians were wounded in the latest hospital attack, which it described as “a full-fledged war crime.”

[…]

Via https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yaf-strike-ben-gurion–engage-us-warships-in-r–sea-with-roc

By Robert Inlakesh

While U.S. President Donald Trump announces that Yemen’s Ansar Allah will be “completely annihilated,” he is racking up costs for the American taxpayer, using a strategy that failed under the Biden administration for more than a year. Instead of pressuring Israel to allow aid to reach Gaza, the White House has declared war.

In October 2023, the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government in Sana’a decided to intervene directly in the conflict between Gaza and Israel, firing more than 100 missiles and drones at the port of Eilat, many of which were shot down by U.S. naval vessels. By November, Yemen declared it would impose a blockade on all Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea.

Ansar Allah made it clear it would continue to take action against Israel until a ceasefire was implemented in Gaza, justifying its intervention on humanitarian grounds, claiming an obligation under the Genocide Convention to act. The U.S., under the Biden administration, then decided to attack Yemen directly despite no immediate threat to American interests or vessels.

Then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval mission that failed to achieve any of its objectives and was conducted primarily in the interest of Israel. The costs of the mission ran into the hundreds of billions, while U.S. taxpayers suffered at least billions in losses with no positive outcomes to show for it.

Through 2024 alone, Ansar Allah’s blockade in the Red Sea cost more than $200 billion. Although the U.S. and its British allies repeatedly launched airstrikes on positions across Yemen, they only succeeded in extending the blockade in the Red Sea to their own vessels instead of just Israel’s.

Trump began launching airstrikes across Yemen on March 15, which were deadlier to the country’s civilian population than comparable assaults during the Biden administration. Yet, there are no objective indicators that a favorable result has been achieved.

Similar hyperbole that seeks to exaggerate the results of airstrikes was used by Pentagon officials in January 2024, after the former U.S. president ordered a large-scale bombing campaign. “We feel very confident about where our ammunition struck,” remarked Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staff’s director for operations at the time. Offering no proof of success, Trump is following in the footsteps of the Biden administration.

In the first wave of Trump’s attacks against Yemen, the U.S. used RGM-109 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, estimated to cost between $1.4 million and $2 million per unit. In 2018, when Trump launched an attack on Syria with 66 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the estimated cost for munitions alone exceeded $92.4 million.

The munitions used by the U.S. Navy to shoot down Yemen’s missiles and drones cost between $1 million and $4.3 million each, provoking Department of Defense officials to voice their discontent. “That quickly becomes a problem because the most benefit, even if we do shoot down their incoming missiles and drones, is in their favor,” said Mick Mulroy, a former Defense Department official, in December 2023.

A former U.S. naval officer told MintPress News that the cost of Operation Prosperity Guardian was roughly $600 million per month. “This appears to be a much more intense and costly operation, so without all the specifics, it’s hard to predict how much this will cost,” the officer said. Operating an aircraft carrier alone is estimated to cost between $6 million and $8 million per day.

In early 2024, Politico reported worrying signs of an overburdened U.S. Navy struggling to deploy replacement ships to the West Asia region. In addition, Yemen’s air defense units continue to shoot down American drones. So far, Ansar Allah has downed 16 MQ-9 UAVs, each valued at $33 million, costing the U.S. a total of $528 million.

Despite the Biden administration deciding to attack Yemen on Israel’s behalf, now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio penned an op-ed last year complaining that the strategy was not aggressive enough. Under the Democratic administration, Ansar Allah was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” organization, a label that Trump replaced with the harsher “Foreign Terrorist Organization” designation upon taking office.

On Jan. 19, upon the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza, Yemen ceased all offensive operations and ended its blockade in the Red Sea. However, just over two weeks ago, Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire and blocked all aid from entering the Gaza Strip, prompting Ansar Allah to issue a four-day deadline for allowing aid before restarting its blockade on Israeli shipping.

The immense cost to U.S. taxpayers of Trump’s assault on Yemen, which promises no results and primarily serves Israel’s interests, could easily reach the tens of billions at the current pace, especially considering the intensity of operations is much greater than under his predecessor. All of this could have been avoided had Washington pressured Tel Aviv to allow humanitarian goods to enter Gaza.

[…]

Via https://www.mintpressnews.com/trumps-attacks-on-yemen-will-cost-us-taxpayers-billions/289272/