The Real Cost of "Victories Like Few Have Seen": 8+ Aircraft, $700M+, 13 Dead, 1 Missing
Let's count the aircraft.
Day 2 (March 1-2): Three F-15E Strike Eagles — $90 million each — shot down over Kuwait. Not by Iran. By Kuwait. A Kuwaiti F/A-18 fired on American jets in a friendly fire incident military analysts called "bizarre." All six crew ejected safely, but $270 million in aircraft were destroyed by an ally on the second day of the war. This is what happens when you launch a war at 4 AM on a Saturday without the coalition planning that prevents exactly this.
Day 13 (March 12): A KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq. All six crew members killed. Not enemy fire — a mid-air accident during an operational sortie. The first KC-135 lost in 13 years. Their names: Maj. John Klinner, 33. Capt. Ariana Savino, 31. Tech. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34. Capt. Seth Koval, 38. Capt. Curtis Angst, 30. Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28. More than half the war's total death toll came from this single non-combat incident.
Day 28 (March 27): An Iranian missile strike destroyed a $300 million E-3 Sentry AWACS at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia — the first AWACS ever lost in combat in 49 years. Its radar dome was photographed lying on the ground. Five Air Force tankers were also hit at the same base. Trump wasn't told — his 2-minute briefing didn't include it.
Day 35 (April 3): Iran shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle over Iranian territory. One crew member was rescued inside Iran. The second is missing. Iran is offering a bounty. This happened two days after Trump told the nation the war was "nearing completion" and Iran's capabilities were "just about used up."
The toll:
- 8+ aircraft destroyed or downed
- $700+ million in losses (conservative estimate)
- 13+ American service members killed
- 1 crew member missing in enemy territory
A $300 million radar plane with its dome on the ground. Three fighters shot down by a friend. Six coffins from a refueling accident. A pilot missing behind enemy lines. $700 million in wreckage scattered across Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
The president receives 2-minute video montages of "stuff blowing up." He's "bored." He wants to "move on." He's willing to leave the Strait of Hormuz closed and let someone else clean up.
Somewhere, a family is waiting to find out if their loved one is alive in Iran. The president who sent them there is talking about seizing Iran's oil and fantasizing about being king.
"Victories like few have seen." Indeed.