President Donald Trump may order another round of strikes against Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Before he does, the Pentagon owes Americans straight answers about eight months of fighting.

American forces have badly damaged Iran’s air defenses, navy, and missile infrastructure. Yet two new investigations show Tehran inflicted far greater damage on our forces than the public has been told.

An Associated Press analysis published Saturday found that more than 115 strikes by Iran or its proxies damaged or destroyed structures at 26 bases and other sites housing U.S. equipment through August. The Wall Street Journal separately counted 274 damaged structures at 24 installations with an American presence during the war’s first six months. The Journal also found Iran increasingly targeted buildings where our troops live and sleep.

That should alarm every family with a loved one in uniform, because the toll includes lives.

Six American Soldiers Who Should Not Be Forgotten

The most disturbing questions concern the March 1 Iranian drone attack at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, which killed six Army Reserve soldiers and wounded dozens more.

An October AP investigation reported that Major General John Hinson, who oversaw logistics for U.S. Central Command, and Brig. General Clint Barnes, commander of the 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, kept operations at the port despite warnings about its exposure to drones. Hinson declined to comment, and Barnes did not respond. Negligence has not been proven.

The AP interviewed 13 soldiers, most of them officers. Several said force-protection officers told both generals the port had no defense against drones, and that plans to move the headquarters out of Kuwait were rejected. “Kuwait was just too close, that’s the bottom line,” one officer told the AP.

The Army completed its investigation in June but still has not released its findings.

I spent 24 years as an active-duty Army infantry officer and another two decades in the Pentagon working on defense strategy. I know commanders must accept risk to accomplish the mission. No commander can guarantee every soldier’s safety.

But commanders have a fundamental obligation to assess threats, heed credible warnings, and take reasonable steps to protect the men and women entrusted to them.

Were these deaths foreseeable and preventable? The families deserve to know, and Congress should insist on it.

What Did the Pentagon Know?

Kuwait was only the beginning.

Iran went after our eyes first. According to the AP, Iranian strikes destroyed radar enclosures at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and Naval Support Activity Bahrain in the war’s first two days. A radar in Jordan, one of only 13 the Army has worldwide at roughly half a billion dollars apiece, was reportedly destroyed. Yet Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell insists that “forces and bases are well protected, and America’s military is stronger than ever.”

Then there are the aircraft.

An October Congressional Research Service report listed 81 U.S. military aircraft and drones lost or damaged since February. The tally includes accidents and friendly fire, and some aircraft have returned to service.

Five KC-135 refueling tankers were reportedly damaged in an Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Two more were lost or damaged in a March 12 midair collision over Iraq that killed six airmen, an accident rather than enemy action.

On October 21, the head of Air Force Materiel Command said at least two badly damaged KC-135s remain in depot repair.

These tankers carry American airpower across vast distances. Losing them, even temporarily, strains an aging fleet.

The administration has good reason to tout the damage inflicted on Iran’s military. But Tehran retained enough capability to keep striking American assets. Apparently no one told the Iranians their military was finished.

Americans can celebrate battlefield success and still demand an honest count of our own losses.

The Staggering Costs

A Pentagon estimate sent to Congress put war spending at $47.1 billion through October 16, and that figure excludes repairs to damaged bases.

The Pentagon prices that base damage at a minimum of $5 billion, according to the Journal, with one estimate running as high as $15 billion.

Does our regional posture match the threat? Iran is not the Taliban. Its missiles, drones, and targeting capabilities pose a far more demanding challenge.

And if Iran can impose such costs, consider the challenge of fighting China or Russia. Every month in the Gulf leaves fewer ships, aircraft, and crews for the Indo-Pacific, where deterring China remains our paramount concern.

Congress Must Demand Accountability

In 1941, Senator Harry Truman, a Missouri Democrat, launched a Senate investigation of the national defense program under a president of his own party. His committee exposed defective aircraft engines, faulty steel for shipbuilding, and wasteful military construction. “There is no substitute for facts,” Truman liked to say. The work saved taxpayers billions and put him on Franklin Roosevelt’s 1944 ticket.

Today’s Congress should apply the same standard. Asking whether commanders did enough to protect American troops is oversight, the job the Constitution assigns to Congress.

Before the president orders another round of strikes against Iran, Congress and the American people deserve answers to four questions.

What vulnerabilities did Iranian attacks expose, and have they been corrected?

Did command decisions needlessly endanger American personnel, and what have investigators found?

What are the actual losses, and how have they affected military readiness?

And what specific political objective would renewed attacks accomplish that eight months of fighting have not?

Congress should receive a classified assessment, and the public a candid accounting that protects operational security.

The President Owes Americans an Explanation

Reuters reported Monday that Iranian negotiators had left Doha after three days of talks with Qatari mediators, with a draft proposal circulating. Trump has said he would not strike before Tuesday’s vote. But over the weekend he told reporters the U.S. still has to “take care of” one or two sites and warned, “Either they’ll make a deal, or we’ll just end it.”

Diplomacy may fail. Iran’s regime remains dangerous, and the president must retain credible military options.

In his April 1 address, Trump said American forces were “on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly.” Seven months later, he owes Americans an update on where this war stands, what victory now means, and what more fighting would cost.

In March, I warned that America could win nearly every battle against Iran and still fail to achieve a lasting strategic victory. That warning stands.

Establish the facts. Correct the mistakes. Hold commanders accountable for decisions within their responsibility. Then decide what comes next.

America has proved it can strike Iran with extraordinary force. Washington must now show that it has done all it reasonably can to protect the Americans who bear the consequences.