Calls Mount For A True Accounting Of Trump's Iran War

Iranian strikes have damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases across eight Middle Eastern countries, according to a report released in September by the Pentagon's inspector general.

“Despite a lack of clarity and candor from [the Department of Defense], press reports of attacks, video footage, satellite images, and photos leaked to the media by active US service members have painted a dire picture of US bases and facilities damaged and destroyed by Iran,” the lawmakers wrote.

US officials and congressional aides have previously said the damage was far more extensive than the administration had publicly acknowledged and was expected to cost billions of dollars to repair.

More than 50,000 US troops have been deployed to support the Iran War. At least 23 US service members have died, and another 865 have been injured since Trump launched the war. The Pentagon has repeatedly failed to disclose casualties from the war, including dozens of troops injured in Iranian strikes, while moving other casualties out of its official Iran War tally.

At least 1,700 Iranian civilians have also been killed, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Iran's Health Ministry reported that more than 26,500 people were injured in the war's first 40 days. HRANA has reported more than 2,200 children injured.

Since the war began in late February, independent analysts have argued that the Pentagon has presented an incomplete picture of the war's costs.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies projected that the war had already cost roughly $40 billion by June, including an estimated $4 billion to $9.4 billion to repair and rebuild damaged US bases. At that time, the Pentagon's most recent public tally was just $29 billion, issued the previous month.