On Tuesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh stated that “we are absolutely incurring costs” in responding to Houthi attacks, “which is why we need Congress to approve a budget and we need Congress to approve this supplemental package.” And the package is needed “so we can continue to not only support our efforts in the Central Command area of responsibility, but also support Ukraine.”
Host Leland Vittert asked, “So, far, it looks like we’ve spent about $400 million in these surface-to-air missiles that are launched by the United States to intercept the Houthi drones. Some of these Houthi drones are 10-25,000 dollars. It doesn’t take an economics degree to understand that that’s good math for Iran and the Houthis, bad math for the United States in terms of costs. But we extend this out, how worried is the Pentagon about supply of these missiles vis-a-vis having to fight another war, say in China against China or somewhere else, that the Houthis, at the behest of Iran and the behest of the Chinese, are draining our supply?”
Singh answered, “Absolutely. We are incurring costs. We have to also — we have to think about what’s happening in the Red Sea. We also now have to think about what’s happening in Ukraine to make sure that we are continuing to flow aid to the Ukrainians in their fight against Russia. And, as you mentioned, we always have our eye on our pacing challenge, which is China in the Indo-Pacific. But we can’t do this with one arm tied behind our backs. So, we are absolutely incurring costs, which is why we need Congress to approve a budget and we need Congress to approve this supplemental package.”
Later, she added, “[I]t’s so important that Congress give us the authorities that we that we need so we can continue to not only support our efforts in the Central Command area of responsibility, but also support Ukraine.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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