March 18, 2025 (EIRNS)—Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the Director of Operations for the Joint Staff, appeared in the Pentagon briefing room yesterday just as the U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen was entering its third night. The U.S., Parnell said, will continue to use “overwhelming, lethal force” against “the terrorist Houthi targets” until the U.S. achieves its goals. “There is a very clear end-state to this operation, and that begins the moment that the Houthis pledge to stop attacking our ships and putting American lives at risk,” he said.
Right now, he added, it’s not apparent the Houthis are interested in stopping attacks against U.S. targets. “The Houthis could stop this tomorrow if they [agree] to stop shooting at [our] people. But they’ve clearly chosen not to do that. And so, this campaign will be relentless to degrade their capability and to open up shipping lanes in the region and to defend our homeland.”
Grynkewich said that, under the President’s direction, U.S. Central Command began precision strike operations against the Houthis to restore freedom of navigation and American deterrence. “The initial wave of strikes hit over 30 targets at multiple locations, degrading a variety of Houthi capabilities,” he said. Included among those targets were (what he claimed were) terrorist training sites, unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure, weapons manufacturing capabilities and weapons storage facilities. “It also included a number of command-and-control centers, including a terrorist compound where we know several senior Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle experts were located,” Grynkewich said.
“The operation continues and will continue in the coming days until we achieve the President’s objectives,” Grynkewich added. He claimed that Houthi military casualties might be calculated in dozens, but those are initial estimates. Currently, there is no indication of civilian casualties from the U.S. attacks.
