The US ammo crunch is a global disaster

The US now looks much diminished militarily: almost out of breath and out of ammo.

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An Army Tactical Missile System is displayed during the inauguration of a new artillery plant run by Rheinmetall, in Unterluess, Germany.

An Army Tactical Missile System is displayed during the inauguration of a new artillery plant run by Rheinmetall in Unterluess, Germany.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Andreas Kluth

It appears that US President Donald Trump is livid at Pete Hegseth. Not long ago, Trump still cooed that his macho defence secretary “loves war”, including the one the US leader launched in Iran. Now, that war is turning out to be unwinnable and seemingly unendable. So Trump, venting his frustration at Camp David, wanted to know why Hegseth misled him by not explaining earlier that America was – who could have guessed – running out of ammunition.

We should all be mad at Hegseth for overselling “lethality” in general and the war against Iran in particular. But we should be even angrier at Trump, who, as commander-in-chief, gave the order to start this misguided conflict. Both men could have listened to any number of advisers who would have “red-teamed” scenarios of things going wrong, from Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz to the US depleting its munitions. 

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