The attacks have been able to disrupt shipping and keep the U.S. and its allies tied down, frustrating the Navy’s decades-old mission of keeping open the region’s critical sea lanes.
American military says it has spent about $1 billion fighting Ansar Allah to support Israel's Gaza War. It has conducted more than 450 strikes and intercepting 200 drones and missiles.
U.S. officials worry that the conflict is simply not sustainable.
“Their supply of weapons from Iran is cheap and highly sustainable, but ours is expensive and our logistics tails are long. We are playing whack-a-mole, and they are playing a long game.”
https://archive.ph/VbNKQ
It's not an innocent misunderstanding, it's intentional propaganda. If you redefine your opponent's goal to something it's not, when your opponent doesn't achieve that goal you can claim victory.
Remember all that "Kiev in 3 days" bullshit that came from a US officer and was spread all over the internet?
God I still see that regularly. Like every single usual suspect subreddit has at least one person doing the "Day 943 of the 3 day Special Military Operation
"