As we watch the slow-motion train wreck that is the Iran war effort, one is reminded that qualifications and expertise actually matter. To add to James Joyner’s post on the conditions on the Lincoln, let’s add the following.
- Via MTN: Not Just the Lincoln: Families Describe Human Waste, No Food, No End in Sight Across Multiple Ships.
- Via Yahoo News/WaPo: U.S. military has lost roughly 25% of its Reaper drones as Iran war depletes arsenal.
- Via CNN: Nearly 80% of interceptors for a key missile defense system depleted, sources say.
- Via the Independent: US has exhausted ‘virtually all’ long-range missiles during Iran war amid fears of wider conflict.
The poor planning and utter waste of all of this is stunning, especially when we know that none of our strategic goals are being met, and that we are currently fighting to find a way back to the status quo ante.
Note, too, that part of the logistics problems are linked to successful attacks by Iran on US bases in Bahrain, as per the NYT: Navy Carrier’s Problems Are Tied to Attacks on U.S. Base Early in War. Of course, lack of transparency on the part of the Hegseth DoD, and the administration writ large, means we find out about this stuff slowly, if at all.
Who could have known that putting a weekend cable news anchor in charge of the Pentagon might not turn out well? Who could have predicted that electing a reality TV host who can’t keep a casino profitable, or any number of other businesses afloat, would lead to poor leadership?
I know that this post is, in many ways, a redundancy relative to any number of similar posts on the site. But the degree to which this war is creating long-term strategic problems, hardship for US military personnel, and diminishing our war-fighting capabilities all in service of a pointless failure needs to be documented.
More generally, Republicans have been telling me my whole life that we need to combat “wasteful government spending,” and yet I have seen in all my decades of following American politics a more obvious and blatant wasting of money than in this administration.
For example, the year-long deployment of the National Guard to DC (which is supposed to last all of Trump’s term) has already cost $1.4 billion (source). For what?
The ballroom that was supposedly going to be free is approaching $1 billion itself (source), while other vanity projects are adding hundreds of millions more (source). The “free” Qatari jet required $400 million (at least) to retrofit as an Air Force One. And then there is $1.7 billion for a border wall in Big Bend National Park in a place where there are almost no illegal crossings (source).
It is one thing when well-intentioned policies end up being inefficient or even wasteful. It is yet another when the whims of one man lead to billions being spent to feed his ego or on pointless endeavors.
How much good could be done with the billions being wasted (such as extending subsidies for health care)? Or, if one prefers, how much better off would the deficit situation be? For all the talk about this crew about the budget, they are perpetrating, right in front of our noses, the most wasteful administration of all time. ICE alone has been given tens of billions above its previous budgets.
Indeed, as CNBC reports: U.S. budget deficit surged in July to highest level since March 2021.
And yes, that is not all Trump’s fault, but the combination of irresponsible tax cuts that he and his party passed, coupled with utter irresponsibility on the governing front, does not help. And things like having to deal with all the wasted munitions in Iran are going to add to that bill over time.
