The U.S. military is struggling to protect its overseas bases amid a conflict with Iran that has spun out of self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s control.
asserted
that → struggle → control
After a string of damaging attacks on bases throughout the Middle East, U.S. long-range bombers stationed in the United Kingdom fled back to their American home bases on Sunday amid fears of an impending Iranian strike.
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bombers → station → strike
A U.S. official described the threat as a “sophisticated plot to attack” Royal Air Force Fairford air base with “multiple drones” that could have turned into a military and public relations nightmare.
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that → describe → nightmare
The U.S. official suggested that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may have recruited U.K. nationals to play roles in the plot, which so unnerved the Pentagon that they took the extraordinary step of removing 12 B-1 Bombers from the base that has played a key role in the U.S. war.
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that → suggest → war
A second official called it a “complex plan” and part of a “hybrid strategy” of asymmetric warfare by Iran that forced the Pentagon to take drastic measures.
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that → call → measures
“There were some threats,” President Donald Trump admitted on Monday when asked about the bombers, adding that leaving the aircraft would only tempt an attack.
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leaving → be → attack
The inability to safeguard U.S. aircraft at a base northwest of London comes at a time of mounting attacks on U.S. outposts around the world.
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inability → safeguard → world
Complex Iranian drone and ballistic missile strikes have killed and injured U.S. troops, placed many more in harm’s way, and damaged or destroyed numerous outposts across the Middle East.
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strikes → kill → East
Some crucial bases have sustained so much damage that U.S. operations have been radically disrupted and, according to the second official, “base posture in the region may never recover.”
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posture → sustain → region
The strikes have also targeted joint facilities operated by U.S. allies.
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strikes → target → allies
In March, Iran launched a drone attack on a British air base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, causing damage to a facility the U.S. military has long relied on.
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military → launch → facility
Iran also targeted a joint U.K.–U.S. base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia that has become increasingly central to the U.S. war effort.
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that → target → effort
What Trump called a “little excursion” has become a festering wound for the U.S. military.
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called → call → military
Despite months of claims by Trump and Hegseth that Iran’s military was annihilated, Iran has attacked more than 15 bases across the Middle East.
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Iran → annihilate → East
The official U.S. casualty toll stands at 19 dead and close to 900 wounded, most of the dead occurring since July, after the Trump administration claimed the war had ended.
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war → stand → July
The real casualty toll is higher and has been consistently obscured and manipulated through what one defense official called a “cover-up.”
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official → obscure → what
The first U.S. official said Iran is engaged in a “go for broke” strategy, banking that it can absorb economic ruin longer than the U.S. can sustain a failing war and an expensive and difficult Naval blockade and escort program in the Strait of Hormuz, while dealing with global economic upheaval from stubbornly high fuel prices that have not shrunk to pre-war levels despite the oil flow from other Gulf Nations returning to normal.
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flow → say → Nations
The withdrawal of the bombers from Fairford came just days after the British government arrested six suspects in connection with a suspected attack on that same base.
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government → come → base
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran played a role in the incident.
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Iran → say → incident
The men were later released on bail, prompting criticism by Trump.
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men → release → Trump
The IRGC warned in July that “any base used to launch attacks on Iranian territory is a legitimate target for our forces.”
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base → warn → forces
On Monday, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, “stressed the need for any creative act capable of disrupting the enemy’s calculations,” according to a report by Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.
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commander → stress → Agency
The U.S. officials referenced additional threats against other bases in Europe, including Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
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officials → reference → Germany
This isn’t the first time the U.S. has scrambled to protect its assets from a supposed Iranian threat.
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U.S. → scramble → threat
In July, Trump himself snuck into a catering truck and fled Turkey on a military aircraft due to U.S. fears of a possible Iranian attack on Air Force One.
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Trump → sneak → One
Trump had earlier said he was Iran’s “No. 1 target” during the NATO summit in Ankara.
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he → say → Ankara
Unlike their commander-in-chief, U.S. troops have been unable to flee their bases and ships when Iran has overwhelmed U.S. air defenses during attacks in the Middle East.
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Iran → flee → East
A recent Pentagon inspector general report revealed Iranian strikes “damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict.”
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strikes → reveal → conflict
Air Force personnel, alone, endured more than 1,200 “alarm reds” — the official code for imminent attack by missiles, aircraft, or ground forces — during just 38 days earlier this year, according to Air Force chief of staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach.
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personnel → endure → Wilsbach
A March 1 drone attack on the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait killed six U.S. troops, the deadliest known Iranian strike on U.S. personnel during the war; dozens more were wounded.
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dozens → kill → war
In July, an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed three soldiers from air defense units although they were “not actively engaged in anti-aircraft activity” during the attacks, according to a “defense official” who spoke on background because they were not authorized to disclose the information.
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they → kill → information
Multiple U.S. military aircraft were also damaged in the attack, including an A-10 Thunderbolt and eight F-15 fighters.
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aircraft → damage → Thunderbolt
These were among dozens of U.S. aircraft so far destroyed or damaged in the war, including four F-15 fighter aircraft, 12 KC-135 refueling aircraft, and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones, according to the inspector general report.
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These → destroy → report
The U.S. and its allies burned through more than 11,000 munitions, including large amounts of defensive missiles, in the first 16 days of the war alone, according to a March analysis by the Royal United Services Institute.
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U.S. → burn → Institute
About 65 percent of Patriot interceptors were expended between February and July, leaving fewer than 830 remaining from a pre-war total of 2,330, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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percent → expend → Studies
The number of THAAD interceptors dropped from more than 450 to less than 270.
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number → drop → 270
Adm. Brad Cooper, the chief of U.S. Central Command, downplayed the risks of depleted stockpiles of such missiles last month, telling CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he wasn’t worried for the safety of U.S. troops.
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he → downplay → troops
“I’m not concerned at all,” he replied when asked about defending against Iranian attacks.
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he → reply → attacks
CENTCOM did not reply when asked if Cooper would resign if U.S. troops were killed or wounded in future attacks.
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troops → reply → attacks
An Iranian missile and drone attack at the start of the war destroyed Navy facilities in Manama, Bahrain, the most critical U.S. logistics hub in the region.
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attack → destroy → region
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
