‘So much worse ---------- than people realize’:
Images, troops reveal damage at US bases
October 23rd, 11:43am
(PressTV)
Never-before-published photos and videos have confirmed
damage to US military facilities across West Asia during
Iran’s retaliatory attacks, with US military personnel
slamming their country --- for mismanagement and
inadequate preparations and for “abandoning”
them during the recent war on Iran.
This photo' shows damage inflicted to US base
in Saudi Arabia .....by Iran's retaliatory attacks.
MeidasTouch, in coordination with VALOR Media Network,
obtained tens of never-before-seen photos and videos
showing damage to US military installations in Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates,
and Bahrain.
As the US censors information about the casualties and
damage caused by the retaliatory Iranian strikes, the
report also cited firsthand accounts from sources,
including service members & civilian contractors,
describing destroyed aircraft, bombed-out
barracks and mess halls, troops digging
their own foxholes, and parking
garages turned into shelters.
"It's so much worse than people
realize," one source said.
The sources asked not to be named because, they said,
they have been repeatedly threatened with disciplinary
action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for
speaking out or sharing images.
The sources said their experience was unlike anything
they had encountered in other war zones where they
had been deployed.
"This is not a normal deployment," multiple sources
said, citing a level of mismanagement they had
never seen before.
As the US expected to achieve the war’s objectives
within few days, one service member described
being called up in mid-February ..and asked to
ship out immediately on what was supposed
to be a three-week assignment.
However, they ended up staying
more than seven months.
Several, even though some of them were directly involved
in the war, said they had no advance knowledge of the
US-Israeli aggression against Iran, and learned.. that
it had begun from the news. "We are sitting ducks,"
one said.
They noted that the attacks came almost entirely
from the sky: drones, rockets, and ballistic
missiles, unlike past wars.
Describing the Iranian drones that targeted their base,
one of the troops said, "You can't see them at night.
They have no lights and are GPS navigated via
coordinates. It sounds exactly like a small
Cessna. Looks like a large falcon... if it's
about 400 feet up. We had no defense
against the drones."
Saudi Arabia: Extensive damage at Prince Sultan Air Base
Among the images published by the report - were those
supplied by US service members and contractors that
have shown extensive damage at Prince Sultan Air
Base in Saudi Arabia between March and July.
The photos show destroyed dining facilities and work-
spaces - & damaged dorms where military personnel
were living back then, as well as unfinished bunkers.
Other images show aircraft burning
on the tarmac after missile attacks.
One photo shows a damaged US Air Force E-3 Sentry
AWACS surveillance plane, tail number 81-005.
According to the sources, it was hit in an
attack - that injured between 10 and 12
troops, and left multiple other aircraft,
including two KC-135 refueling
tankers, damaged.
A source also provided an image they say shows a fully
destroyed C-17 cargo aircraft. They noted that it was
piled up to speed cleanup and limit knowledge of
the loss. That’s while.... the Pentagon has not
confirmed the loss of a C-17.
Jordan: ‘Alarms couldn't keep up’
In Jordan, troops reported roughly three months
of near-constant incoming fire beginning in
March, at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.
"They were taking incoming fire so frequently that the
alarms couldn't keep up," according to one account.
According to the sources, command-and-control facilities
and critical infrastructure, as well as multiple US Air
Force aircraft were damaged during the strikes,
including F-15 fighters, F-35s, MQ-9 Reaper
drones, and helicopters.
Citing an attack on the night of July 17 into July 18,
sources said Iranian ballistic missiles and drones
got past the base's defenses ---- and struck US
military barracks.
While three military personnel were reportedly killed,
sources said those on the ground were surprised no
more deaths were reported as the base was over-
crowded at the time of the attack. They said
deaths occurred.... when troops couldn't
make it to the shelters - in time.
Multiple sources said they could hear troops calling for
help from inside the flames following the attack, but
they could not reach them because of inadequate
emergency response and a lack of preparation.
The report said the continued strikes left troops ran out
of basic supplies, especially personal hygiene items,
and suffering from deteriorated living conditions.
Kuwait: Scattered personnel, abandoned camp
In Kuwait, sources said that: after the initial attacks, some
US military personnel ..scattered into the desert and lived
out of a van for 3 months before they could be sent home.
According to sources and images... taken in September at
Camp Buehring, months after the last attack, a base was
almost completely abandoned by the US military.
Multiple sources said no one is allowed
in parts of the camp - at night.
UAE: Personnel dug their hideouts
In the United Arab Emirates, troops said -- they had no
shelters or protection when the US aggression began.
Some personnel fled to hotels, while
others dug their own foxholes.
Troops described leadership as "rudderless," caught
off guard ---- by a war no one had prepared them for.
Bahrain: US troops hid in residential buildings
In Bahrain, the report said Iranian drones or missiles
inflicted damage --------- to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Military families say - the Pentagon refused to allow the
evacuation, despite the existence of evacuation plans
and the presence of planes at the Bahrain airport, in
order not to "make the situation look bad at home."
Sources say some senior leaders were evacuated
under what was presented as a training exercise.
Military families were left to find their own way out.
According to the report, US troops ......were moved into
residential buildings and hotels that were then struck
by Iranian drones and missiles - within hours.
"We were used as pawns, in the war. There were many
opportunities to get us out BEFORE things broke bad,”
the spouse of a US service member, who was living
in Bahrain in March, said.
"The planes were sitting, waiting for the call to be made,
but the powers that be didn't make the call to evacuate
dependents, and then the Bahrain Airport was
damaged and we were trapped."
The wife of a US contractor said she and her husband
were living near the US military base when the war
began on February 28.
"The US government -- did absolutely nothing to help me
evacuate," she said, adding "As an American citizen, I
felt completely abandoned by my own government."
The sources also pointed to the absence of
embedded journalists, which have been
standard in past US wars.
The accounts paint a picture of collapsing morale,
with troops saying they have no idea what they
are fighting for.
Many described feeling that "no one was coming
to help" and that .....they were on their own.
"The whole idea of the military caring about service
members' mental health - is bullshit," one stressed.
"As a service member, you lose rights as an American
citizen; you are bound to your contract," said another.
"You just have to ride it out and hope you survive."
The US and Israel launched another round of aggression
against Iran on February 28, some eight months after
carrying out unprovoked attacks on the country.
Iran swiftly retaliated by launching barrages of missiles
and drones at the Israeli-occupied territories, as well
as US bases and interests across the region.
Following 40 days of war, a memorandum of understanding
was signed remotely in June by Iranian President Masoud
Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump --- under the
mediation of Pakistan.
The 14-point memorandum committed both sides to ending
military operations "on all fronts" ------- and provided for the
suspension of wartime restrictions placed by Iran on the
Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the US naval blockade,
and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
However, the US has repeatedly violated the agreement,
including through military strikes, the revocation of oil
sale licenses, and continued Israeli attacks -------
against Lebanon.