Iranian strikes have damaged hundreds of structures at U.S. bases, watchdog says
The Washington Post reports:
BLUF: The report by the Pentagon's inspector general also detailed the extent of munitions shortfalls in the first comprehensive public accounting of the cost and military impact of the war with Iran.
By Victoria Craw
Iranian strikes have damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at bases across the Middle East, and caused about $184 million worth of damage at U.S. diplomatic facilities, according to a Pentagon watchdog report.
The inspector general’s report to Congress on Operation Epic Fury — the Trump administration’s name for the war with Iran — also details the extent of U.S. munitions shortages, in the first comprehensive public accounting of the war, which is now in its seventh month.
The report, released Monday, covers operations through June 30. It contains input from the departments of Defense and State and other agencies to provide the most complete picture yet of the cost and military impact of the ongoing conflict.
Buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan were damaged or destroyed in the war, the report stated, adding that U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates also sustained damage.
The mounting costs of the war and impact on U.S. munitions stockpiles has already come under scrutiny. In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing the war has cost $37.5 billion and defended the administration’s request for a further $67 billion to restock the Pentagon’s arsenal and avoid looming budget shortfalls.
The latest report details how the war has “resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls” of munitions and “revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.”
It said the Defense Department is working to “streamline” procurement and production processes, as well as stockpile critical materials, components and munitions to mitigate the shortage. But while these efforts have begun, the defense industrial base requires “significant lead time” to expand production.
“The most persistent bottlenecks remain in the production of solid rocket motors, the availability of high-grade explosives and propellants, and the recruitment of skilled manufacturing labor,” it states.
The expenditure of U.S. munitions is increasingly worrying U.S. allies and Pentagon officials in the Indo-Pacific region who fear the war in Iran could undermine readiness for a potential conflict with China. The weapons drain has become a source of tension between President Donald Trump and Hegseth, though Trump has denied U.S. weapons are running low.
On Monday Trump touted U.S. weapons stockpiles in a post on Truth Social, saying he had received a report noting the U.S. is producing “more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History” that were being delivered to U.S. forces.
“A primary focus of this production has been Patriots, THAAD Systems, Tomahawks, and other Standard Missile Systems, of which we already have large numbers in stock,” he said.
The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately reply to requests for comment early Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported in May that the U.S. had depleted much of its inventory of advanced missile-defense interceptors, using up roughly half of the Pentagon’s total inventory of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors. The U.S. military also fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first four weeks of war, a rate which has alarmed some Pentagon officials.
The extent of the munitions the U.S. has used during Operation Epic Fury illustrates the “magnitude and complexity” of the challenge posed by Iran, the report said, noting Iran’s large armed forces, extensive underground facilities and decades of building a domestic defense industry.
The U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28 in joint strikes with Israel that killed Iran’s leader at the time, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The war has now entered its seventh month, with Iran retaining leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil and gas flows from the Persian Gulf. A recent lightning offensive by Houthi rebels in Yemen, supported by Iran, has threatened to further imperil shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Dozens of U.S. aircraft have been damaged or destroyed during the operation, including 4 F-15E fighter jets, one F-35A damaged in enemy fire over Iran and several other aircraft and helicopters, the report said.
More than 50,000 U.S. service members have been deployed throughout U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility in support of the operation, the watchdog report said. A total of 18 have died, the report said, including several in July. It said 417 service members were wounded between Feb. 28 and June 30.
The State Department has also incurred around $113 million in costs, including nearly $80 million responding to events such as the evacuation of U.S. citizens and State Department personnel, the report said, adding that about 9,000 Americans have left the region on charter flights and buses.
The war has also had an “immediate negative impact” on U.S. assistance across the Middle East, including agriculture, food, health, nutrition and water sanitation, because of the departure of embassy staff, the report said.
AI Generated summary of 65 readers’ comments to this article:
The comments express significant criticism of President Donald Trump's handling of the war with Iran, highlighting a disconnect between his declarations of victory and the ongoing conflict's reality.
Commenters point out the substantial costs, both financial and human, and the damage to U.S. military infrastructure. There is skepticism about the transparency of the administration and concerns about the long-term implications of the war, with some attributing the situation to mismanagement and incompetence within the U.S. leadership.
BLUF: The report by the Pentagon's inspector general also detailed the extent of munitions shortfalls in the first comprehensive public accounting of the cost and military impact of the war with Iran.
By Victoria Craw
Iranian strikes have damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at bases across the Middle East, and caused about $184 million worth of damage at U.S. diplomatic facilities, according to a Pentagon watchdog report.
The inspector general’s report to Congress on Operation Epic Fury — the Trump administration’s name for the war with Iran — also details the extent of U.S. munitions shortages, in the first comprehensive public accounting of the war, which is now in its seventh month.
The report, released Monday, covers operations through June 30. It contains input from the departments of Defense and State and other agencies to provide the most complete picture yet of the cost and military impact of the ongoing conflict.
Buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan were damaged or destroyed in the war, the report stated, adding that U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates also sustained damage.
The mounting costs of the war and impact on U.S. munitions stockpiles has already come under scrutiny. In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing the war has cost $37.5 billion and defended the administration’s request for a further $67 billion to restock the Pentagon’s arsenal and avoid looming budget shortfalls.
The latest report details how the war has “resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls” of munitions and “revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.”
It said the Defense Department is working to “streamline” procurement and production processes, as well as stockpile critical materials, components and munitions to mitigate the shortage. But while these efforts have begun, the defense industrial base requires “significant lead time” to expand production.
“The most persistent bottlenecks remain in the production of solid rocket motors, the availability of high-grade explosives and propellants, and the recruitment of skilled manufacturing labor,” it states.
The expenditure of U.S. munitions is increasingly worrying U.S. allies and Pentagon officials in the Indo-Pacific region who fear the war in Iran could undermine readiness for a potential conflict with China. The weapons drain has become a source of tension between President Donald Trump and Hegseth, though Trump has denied U.S. weapons are running low.
On Monday Trump touted U.S. weapons stockpiles in a post on Truth Social, saying he had received a report noting the U.S. is producing “more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History” that were being delivered to U.S. forces.
“A primary focus of this production has been Patriots, THAAD Systems, Tomahawks, and other Standard Missile Systems, of which we already have large numbers in stock,” he said.
The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately reply to requests for comment early Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported in May that the U.S. had depleted much of its inventory of advanced missile-defense interceptors, using up roughly half of the Pentagon’s total inventory of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors. The U.S. military also fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first four weeks of war, a rate which has alarmed some Pentagon officials.
The extent of the munitions the U.S. has used during Operation Epic Fury illustrates the “magnitude and complexity” of the challenge posed by Iran, the report said, noting Iran’s large armed forces, extensive underground facilities and decades of building a domestic defense industry.
The U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28 in joint strikes with Israel that killed Iran’s leader at the time, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The war has now entered its seventh month, with Iran retaining leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil and gas flows from the Persian Gulf. A recent lightning offensive by Houthi rebels in Yemen, supported by Iran, has threatened to further imperil shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Dozens of U.S. aircraft have been damaged or destroyed during the operation, including 4 F-15E fighter jets, one F-35A damaged in enemy fire over Iran and several other aircraft and helicopters, the report said.
More than 50,000 U.S. service members have been deployed throughout U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility in support of the operation, the watchdog report said. A total of 18 have died, the report said, including several in July. It said 417 service members were wounded between Feb. 28 and June 30.
The State Department has also incurred around $113 million in costs, including nearly $80 million responding to events such as the evacuation of U.S. citizens and State Department personnel, the report said, adding that about 9,000 Americans have left the region on charter flights and buses.
The war has also had an “immediate negative impact” on U.S. assistance across the Middle East, including agriculture, food, health, nutrition and water sanitation, because of the departure of embassy staff, the report said.
AI Generated summary of 65 readers’ comments to this article:
The comments express significant criticism of President Donald Trump's handling of the war with Iran, highlighting a disconnect between his declarations of victory and the ongoing conflict's reality.
Commenters point out the substantial costs, both financial and human, and the damage to U.S. military infrastructure. There is skepticism about the transparency of the administration and concerns about the long-term implications of the war, with some attributing the situation to mismanagement and incompetence within the U.S. leadership.
