Democrats to investigate deadly Iranian attack following dubious claims from Hegseth - EUROPE SAYS
For many U. S. service members, one day from the war with Iran stands out: On March 1, the second day of the military offensive, an unmanned Iranian drone struck a “tactical operations center” in Port Shuaiba,. . .
For many U. S. service members, one day from the war with Iran stands out: On March 1, the second day of the military offensive, an unmanned Iranian drone struck a “tactical operations center” in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait,killing six U. S. soldiersand wounding many others. Months later, all kinds of questions about what transpired continue to linger, and a group of congressional Democrats apparently intend to get answers. The Washington Post reported:Democratic lawmakers announced Thursday that they are opening an investigation into the Iranian drone strike that killed six U. S. service members in Kuwait earlier this year, citing doubts over the objectivity of the military’s internal review of the attack. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-New York) — along with almost a dozen other House and Senate Democrats — cited recent reporting by The Washington Post and other media outlets scrutinizing the March 1 strike, saying they want answers to whether the military had adequate protections in place before the attack and whether the troops received proper medical care afterward. In the immediate aftermath of the deadly attack, Defense SecretaryPete Hegseth arguedthat defenses were in place to protect the U. S. military outpost, but one unmanned drone — he referred to it as “a squirter” — managed to sneak through and do deadly harm. It wasn’t long before that version of eventsfaced pushbackfrom sources in a position to know. In fact, inan interview with CBS News, one soldier who was injured in the attack called Hegseth’s description a “falsehood. ”Other soldiers from the Army’s 103rd Sustainment Command who survived the attack said in the interview that the military never articulated a “good reason” for moving their unit “closer to Iran, to a deeply unsafe area that was a known target. ” They described the bunker protection “as weak as one gets. ”Asked if the attack was preventable, one soldier replied, “Absolutely, yes. ”During a House Armed Services Committee hearing in April, Ryan, an Army and Iraq War veteran, pressed the Pentagon chief on the contradiction between his claims and the soldiers’ assessment of what actually happened, but Hegsethlargely dodged the line of inquiry. RecommendedSteve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past. ”Latest PostFamily feud: House Republican denies abusing MAGA GOP senator’s daughterTags:Dødpentagonpete hegsethSecretary of Defense