|
August 10, 2026
from
RT Website
It is "amazing" how much the conflict
has depleted US weaponry
stocks,
the political scientist from
the University of Chicago says...
US President
Donald Trump knows he can neither sustain nor win a
protracted war against Iran, political scientist and University of
Chicago professor
John Mearsheimer has said.
In an interview with Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi
broadcast on RT on Sunday, Mearsheimer suggested that recent reports
of dwindling US munitions stocks were based on leaks from officials
in Trump's own circle who want the war to end sooner.
The war on Iran has faced opposition from both US lawmakers and the
public.
A $1.15 trillion defense spending bill on which military
contracts hinge remains deadlocked in the Senate, while multiple
polls have shown broad opposition to war spending.
Media reports have meanwhile questioned how the Trump administration
plans to replenish weapons stocks after months of fighting.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated last
month that Patriot interceptor stocks had fallen at least 65% from
pre-war levels, while
THAAD inventories were down around 38%.
Trump has vehemently denied shortages, but last week acknowledged
that supplies of some unspecified systems were,
"a little bit
tighter."
The Washington Post
reported on Saturday that the Pentagon
is pressing US arms makers to accelerate production, citing a
Department of War memo to industry leaders.
Mearsheimer said that the before the war started, General
Daniel Caine was warning Trump that the US had limited stocks of munitions
and could not fight a protracted conflict.
Yet the US is now doing
exactly that, he stated, adding that,
"it's amazing the extent to
which we have depleted our stockpile of sophisticated weaponry."
"And I think that someone who knows it has leaked this information
in large part to send out a clear message that the Iran war has to
end," Mearsheimer said, warning that further escalation would do
"even more damage to our weapons inventory."
Mearsheimer argued that the situation is dire enough for Trump to
recognize there is no clear path forward, noting he has still
neither ordered new attacks nor accepted Iran's demands to end the
war.
"I would imagine at this point in time that
President Trump has come to recognize that there's no way he can
win this war...
And that's why I like to argue that he's
flailing around," Mearsheimer said.
The scholar went on to argue that regardless of
how or when the conflict ends, it will likely leave the US military
presence in the Middle East greatly diminished.
With many bases badly damaged or destroyed over
the past five months, Washington may be reluctant to rebuild them,
he argued, while Gulf states may no longer want to host US assets
and again become a "giant magnet" for Iranian attacks.
Watch the interview below:
Video also
HERE...
|
