Within just a few days of President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, the situation within the Pentagon led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has become chaotic, with costs for the conflict already ballooning while intelligence findings undermine the administration’s varying justifications for the conflict.
For instance, in a briefing given to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Defense officials said that the first six days of war cost taxpayers approximately $11.3 billion.
The staggering figure may significantly underestimate the costs. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democratic member of the committee, told reporters, “I expect that the current total operating number is significantly above that.” Coons said that the cost to replace the military munitions being used is already “well beyond $10 billion.”
“Accountability” by Nick Anderson
The costs run in stark contrast to Trump’s rhetoric when campaigning for the presidency, when he said he was the “peace” candidate and repudiated America’s history of “forever wars.”
Intelligence reports are also at odds with the administration’s varying justifications for the war, which have run the gamut of claims about Iran’s nuclear development, a purported imminent threat to America, and the need for regime change.
Reuters reported on Thursday that despite bombardment from American and Israeli military forces, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the leadership structure of Iran remains in place. Reuters’ source told them that intelligence reports show “consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger.”
Underlining these reports, newly appointed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei released a speech on Thursday indicating that he intends to keep up attacks against other nations in the region and will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed off. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil prices to soar, significantly increasing gas prices across the world.
As these global developments continue to grow chaotic, the Pentagon has focused on matters like barring photographers from briefings with Hegseth. Apparently the former Fox News host is upset that unflattering pictures of him speaking at the briefings have been circulated.
Related | Pete Hegseth goes to war—against ugly photos of himself
Hegseth has also presided over an internal spending spree at the Pentagon. Newly released reports of expenditures showed the purchase of a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano,$60,000 for Herman Miller recliner chairs, $124,000 for ice cream machines, and $139,224 on 272 orders of doughnuts.
While the Pentagon has its hands full with the Iran mess, the man in charge of it alll—commander in chief Trump—is professing ignorance. Asked about an ongoing Pentagon investigation about the role of the U.S. military in the bombing that blew up a girl’s school in Minab, Iran, and killed 165 people that were mostly children, Trump told reporters yesterday, “I don’t know about it.”