Pentagon Iran War Report admits to Worst Drubbing since Vietnam - link in comments

JUAN COLE

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Department of Defense report on the Israeli-US war on Iran admits that it has been costly, has seen extensive destruction of US facilities in the Middle East, and has run down Pentagon munitions. Since it is being issued by a department headed by notorious liar and braggart Pete Hegseth, it is hard to take the report too seriously on the positive side. But to the extent that it admits any downsides to the war on Iran at all, that admission is especially interesting coming from this administration.

The report acknowledges a cost of $33.4 billion by the end of June. But it admits that this figure does not include the cost of repairing the some 20 US military bases that have been damaged or destroyed, or other damaged facilities. The number is laughably low, with independent analysts putting it at $113 billion already by late June. Another analysis suggests that just the interest payment this year on the billions borrowed by the US government to pursue this debt-financed war could range up to $26 billion.

And all those calculations don’t include the cost of the war to taxpayers in higher gasoline and diesel prices, and the general price inflation they entail. Extra energy costs for American consumers since Feb. 28 alone come to $100 billion.