U.S. Officials Offer New Timeline For Iran War

U.S. Central Command has made a request for more military intelligence officers to support the Iran war effort because it is likely to last through September.

The website reported that it had obtained a notification sent to the Pentagon regarding the need for additional intelligence officers, according to Politico. The website wrote that the support operations would be needed for at least 100 days, but also that it would likely last through September.

Politico reported that the request was part of a scramble to add resources and human capital to support efforts to sustain the war effort.

“What we’ve seen is a completely ad hoc operation where it appeared that nobody actually understood or believed that military action was imminent,” Gerald Feierstein, a former senior U.S. diplomat who dealt with the Middle East told Politco. “It seems like they woke up on Saturday morning and decided that they were going to start a war.”

The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran began on February 28. Iran has fought back launching numerous missiles and drones targeting oil and gas infrastructure of neighboring countries. They also have attacked U.S. military bases in the region. So far, U.S. Central Command has reported that six U.S. service members have died in the military operation.

Among the challenges U.S. forces face is the sheer volume of cheap Iranian drones which have the potential to severely drain U.S. resources in the region. Bloomberg News reported that while U.S. Patriot missiles have been able to take out the drones with interception rates of over 90 percent, the drones cost about $20,000 each, while the missiles cost around $4 million.

However, U.S. Central Command has said that it is successfully targeting Iranian assets and that the country’s ability to launch strikes is “rapidly declining.”