There's been an awful lot of discussion about the United States' current face-off with Iran: Should the administration talk to Iran? Should we continue bombing them into the Stone Age, which honestly would be a big leap ahead for some of the people running that nation? What should the United States do?
One thing that isn't in doubt is that we have expended a whopping big heap of munitions, and now in some reports, the Army is growing concerningly short of reloads for some key systems. President Trump disagrees.
The Trump administration is rejecting concerns that the war with Iran has left the U.S. low on some of its most advanced long-range missiles, after a report found the Army burned through "virtually all" of its stocks of two of its primary long-range precision weapons.
The Army has used "virtually all" of its inventories of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) during the five-month conflict with Iran, Reuters, citing people familiar with internal U.S. military data, reported Tuesday. Officials fear the drawdown could complicate the military's ability to respond to future crises involving adversaries such as China and Russia, according to the report.
The White House disputed any suggestion the U.S. military lacks the weapons needed to carry out its missions.
Now, note that careful wording: The White House reportedly didn't directly contradict the report, which described stocks for two specific weapons systems. That's something of an eyebrow-raiser. The White House replies that the U.S. military has the weapons it needs, which is quite a different rhetorical kettle of fish.
Granted, we may well have enough weapons overall. That's what the president is assuring us.
"We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need, despite the fact that an unprecedented amount was given away by Crooked Joe Biden and the Biden Administration to Ukraine and Europe at no cost, in one of many of their extremely dumb moves," President Donald Trump said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
"Our defense companies are, at this moment, making more munitions than they have ever made before, in addition to expanding their plants and equipment at record levels. And as we build up, we will start issuing more to our allies in Europe and elsewhere."
The Pentagon agrees:
The Pentagon also pushed back on the reporting. "America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing. We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests," chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
Should we be concerned? Well, when there's a war on, we should always be concerned with our armed forces' weapons stocks. Weapons and ammo stocks aren't a cornucopia. And the more sophisticated weapons, like the Army Tactical Missile Systems and Precision Strike Missiles mentioned here, take longer to replenish.
There's a lot to be said for cranking out thousands and thousands of 155mm artillery shells and dumb bombs. There's a place for just raw quantity, and being able to spend a whole day sending tons of attitude adjustment downrange. In this case, though, that's not what we need to do; we do not, nor should we want, ground forces in Iran, sending artillery downrange or anything else.
The president says we're OK. So does the Pentagon. And for now, the shooting is still on hold.
Every war is won or lost by logistics. The side that can move the most bullets and beans forward wins. That still holds today. And if we get to the point where we are having issues sending beans, bullets or both downrange, well, we're going to have a problem.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
Help us report the truth about the Trump administration's decisive actions to keep Americans safe and bring peace to the world. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member