Trump Administration Covering Up “Extensive” Damage Done to US Bases By Iran |
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In their initial retaliatory strikes of the war, Iranian forces caused far more extensive damage to U.S. military assets than Trump administration officials have admitted to in public and private, new reporting finds as Germany’s chancellor says the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iran.
In these strikes, Iran hit over 100 targets across 11 U.S. bases in the Middle East, striking “warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems and dozens of aircraft,” according to reporting by NBC, citing an analysis by conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
These strikes caused damage that will cost billions of dollars to repair, the publication found, citing U.S. officials, congressional aides, and another person familiar with the damage. The reporting corroborates earlier findings that many of the U.S.’s 13 bases in the region have been rendered “all but uninhabitable” due to strikes.
The headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, which Iran hit in the hours after the U.S. and Israel’s first strikes, in particular sustained “serious damage,” the report found. Video of the strikes that day that circulated online showed massive plumes rising from the military facility.
Strikes also reportedly destroyed a runway at Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar; damaged a munitions storage facility in Erbil, in northern Iraq; and damaged hangars and warehouses at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, per AEI’s analysis. U.S. bases in the UAE and Saudi Arabia were also hit. Numerous military assets like at least one fighter jet, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of MQ-9 Reaper drones, and two MC-130 tankers worth over $100 million each have been destroyed.
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In all, the damage is far worse than Trump administration officials have acknowledged both in public and in private briefings with Congress, aides told NBC. The Pentagon is not even disclosing the extent of the damage or estimated costs of repairs to members of Congress, the aides said.
“No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” one congressional GOP aide said. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record-high budget.”
The withholding of information is seemingly in line with the administration’s strategy of projecting an image of strength. But as the economic fallout from the war compounds, other countries are growing increasingly frustrated with the U.S.’s war.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a talk with students on Monday that the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iran.
“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” said Merz, per Reuters. “An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
Officials told NBC that the Trump administration is still gearing up to request over $100 billion — on top of its record-shattering $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget ask — in supplemental funding for the war, despite some of the more expensive aspects of the war, like airstrikes, having come to a standstill in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, multiple private satellite imagery companies are withholding imagery of the region at the request of the U.S. government.
Officials are also reportedly withholding U.S. casualty numbers. The Intercept has reported that the Pentagon’s casualty counts keep shifting, and that last week officials actually dropped the total number of casualties from 428 to 413, without explanation. One U.S. government official said the Pentagon’s practices are the “definition of a cover-up.”
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Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering international affairs, politics, and labor. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky.