The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board expressed fury that the Trump administration projected a major vulnerability to Iran in the middle of wartime.
New leaked reports indicate the White House was just briefed that the military is running out of critical missile supplies — a sign that even the current, tenuous war position is barely sustainable.
"Officials in the Trump Administration leaked to the press that the U.S. is running out of ammunition," wrote the board. "Mull over that one. Mr. Trump was saying all last week he is prepared for a major military escalation. But, suddenly, the leakers undermine the credibility of that U.S. resolve by telling the press — and thus the Iranians — that the U.S. can’t sustain the fight."
This, the board wrote, is hardly going to make the Iranians more amenable to come to the negotiating table. "Do [the leakers] think it’s wise to tell enemies trying to kill U.S. soldiers not to worry about a sustained American response?" wrote the board. "This is an astonishing display of incompetence, or disloyalty, or both."
If the leaks are indeed true, the board wrote, it's a "five-alarm fire" — and immediate action needs to be taken.
"If the missile gap is being floated for political purposes by officials who want Mr. Trump to stand down, then the President should banish those voices from the Situation Room," the board concluded. "Either way, they’re laughing in Tehran."