We know about high diesel prices, a few casualties, the loss of material, and the harrowing ordeal of those serving on the USS Lincoln.
But we don’t know nearly as much as we should about what is going on with this war. And that’s because, unlike other wars, the felon and Pete Hegseth do not have any press embedded with the troops. Or even on bases that are supposed to be safe.
But the bases are not safe. Here’s an excerpt of a report from military families who were evacuated. Note the reason the reporter investigated the situation on this base is because she wanted to understand why the USS Lincoln was suffering from such supply issues. Priya Sridhar MSNOW
When Iran started launching retaliatory attacks against American troops on bases across the Middle East earlier this year, the U.S. military evacuated more than 1,250 people from a major U.S. naval base in Bahrain, according to U.S. Navy officials.
MS NOW spoke to four active-duty spouses and one civilian employee who were part of the Navy’s evacuation of military families from Bahrain in March and said the process was disorganized and chaotic. The spouses and the civilian employee were granted anonymity for fear of retaliation. ✂️
According to a September report to Congress, Bahrain has been the fourth most targeted country by Iranian missile and drone attacks in the region since the war began. In the opening days of the conflict, Iranian attacks damaged the command headquarters, two satellite communications terminals, warehouses and a dozen other buildings, with estimates of the damage nearing $400 million.
Prior to the war, the Navy base in Bahrain served 8,300 military personnel, civilian contractors and dependents, according to the Navy. After the evacuations, that number reportedly dwindled to a fraction of that.
In a recent interview, acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said that Iran “blew the hell out of Bahrain” and that he has assigned a task force to look into whether or not the base should be repaired.
There’s a lot more to the article, but I’m already pushing the fair use rule (otoh, no paywall and it’s important to get out the story). Note “he has assigned a task force to look into whether or not the base should be repaired.” That means, essentially, that Iran took out one of our bases. Like Pearl Harbor. Except, of course, the felon started this war and since he knew about it he should have taken precautions.
The article covers more about the privations of the families, but there’s a lot more to the story. Lawrence O’Donnell interviewed the author of the piece, Priya Sridhar, so here are his comments and then his interview with her.
Don’t want to watch? Here are my takeaways for the first 21 minutes, those on this story:
We’re only getting the story now because the felon did not embed any press
The felon clearly wants to be able to lie about it
O’Donnell shows a clip of the felon lying about it, pretending the war is going very well (it is not)
Have information now from survivors from the destruction of what was our only naval base in the Middle East – the worst destruction of an American naval base since WW II.
No press photographers have been allowed in, but a report to Congress says the base was nearly destroyed
Because of the hypervigilance since the early days of WW II, we have not lost a navy base since then. Didn’t lose during Viet Nam, or Kuwait, or W’s forever wars.
The felon and Hegseth are so incompetent [indifferent] that they left the NSA Bahrain base vulnerable. Bahrain is only 120 miles from Iran, making the attack entirely predictable
Rep John Garamendi (CA) says of the evacuation: Chaos, confusion, and completely avoidable [just like the Iran War]
Mark Hertling: usually you evacuate spouses and children before, especially when completely predictable
O’Donnell covers some of Sridhar’s reporting: video of the attack, quotes from spouses
Families are currently living in limbo. O’Donnell goes into their suffering, and how funds are expected to run out at end of November
Descriptions, too, of the attack
One spouse said we should have done more to protect our regional allies; she felt guilty because she could leave (and of course it was US fault).
The evacuation itself was chaos, they had to go overland to Saudi Arabia
O’Donnell emphasizes they – the felon and the current dod – are not telling the truth
He then interviews Sridhar, who explains how she was led to this story by her interviews with people on the USS Lincoln and their supply problems, caused by the fact the Bahrain base was destroyed
From Sridhar: some of the soldier husbands were evacuated before, as essential personnel for military reasons, which means the govt knew but did nothing about protecting spouses and kids
Supplies now coming from a small island in the Indian ocean, about 2200 miles away
The spouses who were evacuated very worried about their friends in Bahrain who could not go, and some of the military (with 15+ years of experience each) are considering quitting
Then O’Donnell speaks with Rep Chris Deluzio (PA, armed services committee)
Deluzio calls the whole thing a shocking failure. Trump is lying about the success. Republicans have been cowards with respect to the war and national security
Also says the spouses and families should be made whole if the Ds take over. Continues to add areas wrt the war that need oversight
Also some depressing stuff about how we just lost the cold war (I don’t think it’s over yet)
Anyway, this story is important and is another reason to take out all the GOP who have enabled this war and this felon.
Thanks for reading; I look forward to reading your comments.
Sorry not a nice topic, though. But if you know anyone who is on the fence, let them see this and let them know the felon is destroying our military and our alliances.
Sigh.
🐦⬛🐦🐦⬛I do a lot of other writing. Newest! The Bath Murders: A Mystery Set in the City of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Other offerings: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction (Hunters of the Feather). Popular mysteries based on Jane Austen’s novels, such as The Meryton Murders. Others based on history and Greek mythology, e.g., Clytemnestra: The Mother’s Blade, for those who want another look at the characters in The Odyssey. For all ages: Messing with the Myths — three books so far in this series (most recent is Ragnarok & Roll). All titles also available through Kindle Unlimited.
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