US Military Faces Strain as Iran War Continues

By Staff, Agencies

The US military is facing severe pressure from the war on Iran, with US officials warning that mounting operational and logistical challenges could undermine Washington’s ability to sustain the conflict, The Intercept reported.

One US official warned that the strain could eventually lead to “a collapse in the military’s ability” to continue the war effectively.

The Intercept assessed that Iran’s use of drones and advanced ballistic missiles to penetrate US air defenses across the region has placed American forces in a “critical position.”

A US official also said the Trump administration failed to properly assess Iranian military capabilities, pointing to what the official described as a “complete absence of war planning.”

According to The Intercept, the Pentagon is dealing with Iranian retaliatory strikes against US bases and warships, declining stocks of defensive ammunition, rising casualties, ship maintenance problems, extended troop deployments, complex logistics, and declining morale, all of which have affected military readiness.

The outlet also reported that the Pentagon’s budget is under significant strain, contrasting this with months of optimistic statements from the Trump administration. US officials said the military’s ability to operate at full capacity was effectively “paralyzed” during the opening hours of the war.

Trump has previously presented the claimed destruction of the Iranian navy as one of his major achievements in the conflict.

However, officials cited by The Intercept pointed to the pressure faced by US naval forces and rejected White House expectations that Iran would simply collapse.

One US official described the situation as “difficult and ultimately unsustainable.” Despite repeated claims by Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that Iran’s military had been “annihilated,” US officials and Iranian reports indicate that Iranian forces have attacked more than 15 US bases across the Middle East.

The "Israeli" outlet Mekor Rishon also described what it called the scale of the US strategic defeat and its wider repercussions. According to the outlet, Iran’s stocks of advanced air-defense systems, including Patriot and THAAD interceptors, remain intact.