New York City -
The United States suffered considerably greater military damage early in this disastrous Iran War than most of us realize. Actually, the damage to some of our bases and facilities in the Middle East is staggering and serves to weaken - though by no means cripple - our force posture and readiness in the region.
Americans don’t know these facts, which are being suppressed from an Administration that lies and fumbles its way through every waking moment. To be fair, however, one must exercise great caution in communicating force vulnerabilities, capabilities, and readiness. Sure, sometimes the less said the better in these circumstances.
General Joseph Votel (USA, Ret.), a former leader of the U.S. Central Command, told us at a recent Council on Foreign Relations meeting here that, “There has been substantial damage. It’s widespread and operationally relevant.” He specified significant destruction from Iranian missile and drone attacks at, for example, the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, and Ain al-Assad Aitbase in Iraq.
Votel said 20 U.S. bases or facilities in the Middle East, or U.S. assets at other nations’ facilities, have been damaged. He added that these estimates are being formulated by expert, open-source reporting in the absence of reasonable U.S. government disclosure and Pentagon efforts to block satellite coverage.
Add the billions of dollars lost and then many more billions needed for repairs to the already-astronomical costs of this wholly unnecessary war of choice and, well, how do you spell stupid? And while we weakened Iran’s war-fighting capabilities, there is no question that we have thus far strengthened them strategically and achieved none of the many and sometimes conflicting stated objectives for the war.
In reaction to all of this, and rightly so, the U.S. is now considering how to reduce its dependence on fixed albeit vulnerable assets such as bases. One reason naval assets are so valuable is that they are as mobile as they are powerful, so look for increased U.S. Navy presence across the Middle East.
Remember when Bernie Sanders said the U.S. should invest in its human capital by making all community colleges free? Some Luddites scoffed at such an act of socialism, remarking that we could not afford to do so. Well, we could not afford to attack Iran either and make matters worse. Just a fraction of the dollars wasted in doing so could have realized Sanders’ vision and help build a better nation.
Courtesy of the BBC Verify Service.