As President Donald Trump considers resuming attacks on Iran, there are growing fears among U.S. troops in the Middle East and veterans of past wars in the region that escalation would invite retaliation and prolong a monthslong conflict.
“Service members continue to exist in a vulnerable state where at any moment things could happen again … they can’t feel genuinely safe,” said a U.S. official familiar with conditions among active-duty troops stationed at U.S. bases in Persian Gulf countries. “Throughout the war, we have had these sophisticated systems [for defense] but they aren’t perfect.”
Tehran dealt significant damage to American bases in countries like Kuwait and Bahrain earlier in the year, shattering what the official and other sources described as a perception in the military that deployments there were relatively secure. According to the Pentagon, at least 23 service members have been killed and 865 wounded since Trump launched the war in February. Administration critics say this is probably an undercount, as the Pentagon has withheld casualty numbers and acknowledgement of some Iranian strikes, citing operational security. Democratic lawmakers have demanded answers from the Pentagon about discrepancies in its count. Around 50,000 U.S. troops are positioned in the Middle East following Trump’s orders for the biggest buildup in the area since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Though officials and reports suggest the Trump administration has recently moved personnel away from some bases ahead of a possible escalation, members of the military community told The Washington Sun that informal discussions about the war highlight peril and exhaustion, with some U.S. troops still at facilities that have been partially destroyed.
Trending
A reservist previously deployed to the Middle East said that in their network, which includes active-duty colleagues, there is significant opposition to a new back-and-forth with Iran and doubts about military leadership.
“Many of them feel like they are in a religious war against Muslims,” said the reservist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has suggested God backs the U.S. in the Iran war, emphasized historic conflict between Christians and Muslims and cast Muslim immigration as a threat.
Additionally, the reservist said “everyone is concerned” about Hegseth’s firing of a respected top military planner, Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, whom the Pentagon accused of leaking classified information. Those claims have not been independently verified.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told The Sun troops have been strained by multiple extensions to their deployments, in some cases being notified the day before they were supposed to leave. And some have been told they are deployed indefinitely after initially being told they would be sent to the region for a few weeks on a so-called “deterrence deployment.”
Troop frustration goes well beyond deployment length, the official said, noting that some of the greatest concern has been about what’s happened when bases come under assault. Orders to shelter in bunkers often came with too little time for troops to reach the bunkers. Even in the bunkers, generally designed to shield from shrapnel rather than direct strikes, service members were vulnerable to concussions. And some bunkers lacked doors, so personnel watched the live destruction of their facilities. Some troops were directed to leave their bases, the official said, and head into the surrounding desert.
Among those who have been evacuated from the region, many are receiving medical retirements, separations or limitations on future work, the official added, casting doubt on CENTCOM statements that 95% quickly returned to duty.
“I have seen folks who were probably kept in-theater longer than they should have been … their condition was deteriorating and expected to continue to do so. They weren’t really combat-effective,” the official said.
Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, defended Trump’s war strategy and said he appreciates U.S. troops.
“President Trump has been consistent even before holding public office: Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. The President took decisive action to eliminate this threat and, thanks to his bold leadership, the American people are already safer. Our brave men and women in uniform have embodied American strength and resilience, and their Commander in Chief is grateful for their honorable service,” Wales said in a statement to The Sun.
A spokesperson for Hegseth directed queries to CENTCOM, the U.S. military command overseeing Middle East operations. Representatives for CENTCOM did not respond to requests for comment.
Sam Scanlon, a former Army officer who is now senior vice president of the Truman National Security Project, noted the perception of the Iran war is different from that of past U.S. offensives, such as the targeting of the Islamic State, which benefited from broader public backing.
“For this war with very little support, that takes a mental toll not only on the service member but on the family, too,” said Scanlon, who told The Sun he has repeatedly heard from his former colleagues in the region that their bases are “hammered” without sufficient deflection resources.
Some veterans of America’s post-9/11 War on Terror campaigns supported Trump because he “campaigned as a peace president” and created the expectation the U.S. would “regroup,” Scanlon added.
Trump’s war, current and former military personnel and other national security observers fear, has no clear exit strategy — leaving U.S. forces stretched thin amid other international concerns.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) said Thursday he had seen an Iran war plan that “is insane … and will set off a new cycle of escalation.” Earlier in the week, Gen. Ronald Clark, the top Army officer in the Pacific, publicly predicted Beijing will be militarily prepared next year to capture the self-governing island of Taiwan.
The depletion of American weapons, redirecting forces away from the South China Sea and skepticism among U.S. allies about decision-making in Washington could all undercut any U.S. response to Beijing, Scanlon said.
Iran’s ability to retaliate despite U.S. sanctions pressure and a troop buildup, the official said, is “exposing American vulnerability more broadly.”
Meanwhile, they added, “we’re asking a lot of service members right now, and what we’re asking of them may not be sustainable forever.”
In an email to The Sun, a White House official said the U.S. military “has more than enough resources to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief’s strategic goals and counter any foreign threats.”
The Trump administration is seeking $67 billion in additional military funding to resupply munitions used during the Iran war.
Trump’s team has recently suggested it sees a possibility for diplomacy with Iran’s new security chief, Mohsen Rezaei. But experts say Iran remains unlikely to make the sweeping concessions sought by Trump.
Kris Goldsmith, a combat veteran and the president of a group of military-linked content creators called the Valor Media Network, told The Sun that the frustration extends beyond service members.
He pointed to the family of Nicholas McKelvey, who jumped off the U.S.S. Lincoln, the aircraft carrier that was deployed for a record-breaking uninterrupted time at sea, after missing the birth of his daughter and expressing concerns about his mental health to his wife.
“We hope Congress is paying attention,” said Goldsmith, adding that he anticipated future Capitol Hill hearings about “the carelessness with which our troops and their families are being treated.”
Author
