A Pentagon inspector general report records severe damage to US bases in the Middle East from Iranian attacks (Express Tribune).
What the report describes
“Hundreds of buildings and structures” damaged across three facilities in Kuwait and one Saudi base hosting US assets. Some assets were evacuated.
An E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft valued at $270 million was damaged in late March at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
The human cost
| Since 28 February | | |—|—| | US service members killed | 18 | | Wounded | 824 | | Deadliest single attack | 6 killed at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on day two |
The financial cost
| | | |—|—| | Pentagon estimate | $33bn | | Congressional Budget Office | $38bn to 1 August, rising ~$3bn a month |
The quote that will be argued over
A senior US service member, unnamed: “These bases have been irreparably damaged. And if we choose to rebuild them, it’s going to be a decades-long undertaking.”
That is one anonymous assessment, and it sits against the White House’s position this week that the military has “more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles”. Both cannot be a complete description, and an inspector general’s report is the more durable document.
A note on the photographs
Images of damage at Camp Buehring in Kuwait were released and annotated by Iranian state-affiliated media, with satellite imagery separately annotated by the Washington Post. Readers should weigh the provenance: material released by a party to the conflict is evidence of what that party wishes to show.
ABC News separately obtained photographs and video.
What this means for the region
Pakistan’s ambassador told the Security Council this week that escalation “risks reigniting a full-scale conflict”. Brent has come off a $107.82 high to about $104 as Saudi Arabia restores pipeline capacity — a repair, not a resolution.
What is not established
The inspector general’s full report has not been published in the reporting we have seen. The Pentagon has not confirmed individual equipment losses, and no assessment has been released of operational capability at the affected bases.
[Image: The Express Tribune]
