{"text":[[{"start":12.02,"text":"Donald Trump’s war in Iran has cost the US $38bn and left the military with a shortfall of munitions, according to new reports that provide the most detailed accounting to date on the fiscal toll of the conflict."}],[{"start":25.06,"text":"New assessments from the defence department’s Inspector General and Congressional Budget Office show that the seven-month conflict is inflicting a significant cost on US taxpayers and the military’s ordnance stockpile."}],[{"start":37.7,"text":"The “munitions expenditure” during the war “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply”, said the office of Michael Duffy, the under-secretary of defence for acquisition and sustainment, according to the IG report."}],[{"start":54.32,"text":"While the Pentagon has moved to expand production capacity for munitions, Duffy’s office said the American defence industrial base needed “significant lead times” to do so. The biggest bottlenecks were the production of solid rocket motors, the availability of high-grade explosives and propellants, and recruiting skilled labour, the report said."}],[{"start":73.38,"text":"The report also noted that the Pentagon’s munitions expenditures “illustrate the magnitude and complexity of the target set posed by Iran”."}],[{"start":81.52,"text":"The Pentagon IG’s report, released late on Monday, was the first official acknowledgment from a government entity of the munition shortfall since the beginning of the conflict, which has tipped the global energy market into crisis, sent borrowing costs soaring and set off a new wave of inflation across global economies."}],[{"start":99.16,"text":"The report also contrasted with the insistence of Trump and defence secretary Pete Hegseth that there is no shortage."}],[{"start":105.76,"text":"A separate estimate from the CBO, lawmakers’ independent fiscal watchdog, put the cost of the conflict at $38bn, with $21.7bn needed to replace munitions — including $13.1bn for missile defence interceptors. The CBO estimated an additional month of war would cost $2-$3bn, depending on the level of intensity."}],[{"start":127.72,"text":"The CBO also anticipated that the conflict would raise US inflation by 0.5 percentage points to 3.2 per cent this year. The estimates include the cost of repairing damaged facilities and infrastructure."}],[{"start":139.72,"text":"The White House has asked Congress for more than $67bn in supplemental funding for the Pentagon due to the war, including $21bn for munitions."}],[{"start":149.92,"text":"General Kenneth Wilsbach, the US Air Force’s top officer, said on Monday that “it wasn’t easy” to “decimate” the Iranian air force and traditional navy."}],[{"start":158.56,"text":"“Iran’s not a pushover,” he added."}],[{"start":161.6,"text":"The IG’s report catalogued the damage inflicted on US bases and military aircraft by Iran, with 22 aeroplanes and helicopters damaged or destroyed, including fighter jets and refuelling tankers. Up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones were also damaged or destroyed."}],[{"start":178.135,"text":"US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said Iran’s attacks struck hundreds of buildings and structures on US bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to the report, though it did not estimate the cost of that damage. American diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates suffered approximately $184mn in damage from Iranian strikes."}],[{"start":206.16,"text":"After the US Navy’s Mideast headquarters in Bahrain was hit by Iranian drones and cruise missiles, the service had trouble establishing adequate alternate ports and naval bases, the report said. The navy was forced to use hubs further away, including at the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia, creating long logistics cycles of 14 to 18 days."}],[{"start":225.96,"text":"“They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” acting Navy secretary Hung Cao said last week."}],[{"start":236.56,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789527706_6576.mp3"}