<\/p>\n
The U.S. military<\/span> is struggling to protect its overseas bases amid a conflict with Iran that has spun out of self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s control.<\/p>\n After a string of damaging attacks on bases<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n A U.S. official described the threat as a \u201csophisticated plot to attack\u201d Royal Air Force Fairford air base with \u201cmultiple drones\u201d that could have turned into a military and public relations nightmare. The U.S. official suggested that Iran\u2019s 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. A second official called it a \u201ccomplex plan\u201d and part of a \u201chybrid strategy\u201d of asymmetric warfare by Iran that forced the Pentagon to take drastic measures.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were some threats,\u201d President Donald Trump admitted<\/a> on Monday when asked about the bombers, adding that leaving the aircraft would only tempt an attack.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Complex Iranian drone and ballistic missile strikes have killed and injured U.S. troops, placed many more in harm\u2019s way, and damaged or destroyed numerous outposts across the Middle East. Some crucial bases have sustained so much damage that U.S. operations have been radically disrupted and, according to the second official, \u201cbase posture in the region may never recover.\u201d<\/p>\n The strikes have also targeted joint facilities operated by U.S. 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. Iran also targeted a joint U.K.\u2013U.S. base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia that has become increasingly central to the U.S. war effort.<\/p>\n What Trump called a \u201clittle excursion\u201d has become a festering wound for the U.S. military. Despite\u00a0months of claims<\/a>\u00a0by Trump and Hegseth that Iran\u2019s military\u00a0was\u00a0annihilated<\/a>, Iran has attacked more than 15 bases across the Middle East. The official U.S. casualty toll stands at 19 dead and close to 900 wounded, most of the dead<\/a> occurring since July, after the Trump administration claimed the war had ended<\/a>. The real casualty toll is higher and has been consistently obscured<\/a> and manipulated<\/a> through what one defense official called a \u201ccover-up<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The first U.S. official said Iran is engaged in a \u201cgo for broke\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were \u201cstrong indications\u201d that Iran played a role in the incident. The men were later released on bail, prompting criticism by Trump.<\/p>\n The IRGC warned in July that \u201cany base used to launch attacks on Iranian territory is a legitimate target for our forces.\u201d On Monday, the commander-in-chief of Iran\u2019s army, Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, \u201cstressed the need for any creative act capable of disrupting the enemy\u2019s calculations,\u201d according to a report by Iran\u2019s Islamic Republic News Agency. The U.S. officials referenced additional threats against other bases in Europe, including Ramstein Air Base in Germany.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time the U.S. has scrambled to protect its assets from a supposed Iranian threat. In July, Trump himself snuck into a catering truck<\/a> and fled Turkey on a military aircraft due to U.S. fears of a possible Iranian attack on Air Force One<\/a>. Trump had earlier said he was Iran\u2019s \u201cNo. 1 target\u201d during the NATO summit in Ankara.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> during attacks in the Middle East. A recent Pentagon inspector general report revealed<\/a> Iranian strikes \u201cdamaged 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.\u201d Air Force personnel, alone, endured more than 1,200 \u201calarm reds<\/a>\u201d \u2014 the official code for imminent attack by missiles, aircraft, or ground forces \u2014 during just 38 days earlier this year, according<\/a> to Air Force chief of staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach.\u00a0<\/p>\n A March 1 drone attack on the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait killed six U.S. troops<\/a>, the deadliest known Iranian strike on U.S. personnel during the war; dozens more were wounded. In July, an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed three soldiers from air defense units although they were \u201cnot actively engaged in anti-aircraft activity\u201d during the attacks, according to a \u201cdefense official\u201d who spoke on background because they were not authorized to disclose the information. Multiple U.S. military aircraft were also damaged in the attack, including an A-10 Thunderbolt and eight F-15 fighters. 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.<\/p>\n The U.S. and its allies burned through\u00a0more than 11,000 munitions<\/a>, 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. 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<\/a> by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The number of THAAD interceptors dropped from more than 450 to less than 270.<\/p>\n Adm. Brad Cooper, the chief of U.S. Central Command, downplayed the risks of depleted stockpiles of such missiles last month, telling CBS\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes\u201d that he wasn\u2019t worried for the safety of U.S. troops. \u201cI\u2019m not concerned at all,\u201d he replied<\/a> when asked about defending against Iranian attacks. CENTCOM did not reply when asked if Cooper would resign if U.S. troops were killed or wounded in future attacks.<\/p>\n 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. The Pentagon claimed\u00a0for months that the strikes did not significantly impact military operations but acting Navy Secretary\u00a0Hung Cao admitted<\/a> last month that \u201cthey blew the hell out of Bahrain.\u201d A Wall Street Journal investigation<\/a> previously found that rebuilding the U.S. Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet headquarters, barracks, and communication towers at Naval Support Activity Bahrain may cost more than $400 million, which the first U.S. official told The Intercept could be an underestimate if it\u2019s ever attempted. Naval Forces Central Command referred questions about the cost estimate to CENTCOM, which did not respond<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the home of the Fifth Fleet knocked out and other ports in the region within range of Iranian missiles and drones, the Navy found itself facing the daunting challenge of maintaining a flotilla of more than 24 ships<\/a> \u2014 including two massive aircraft carriers and numerous guided-missile destroyers and cruisers, attack submarines, or supply ships\u00a0deployed at any one time. This means Navy ships need to haul food and fuel more than 2,000 miles from the base on Diego Garcia. The inspector general report<\/a> noted that the shift in \u201cnaval bases and support ports posed significant challenges,\u201d pointing specifically to the \u201cissue with shifting logistics support and infrastructure to Diego Garcia\u201d and the challenges of \u201cextended sea transit requiring 14- to 18-day logistics cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n