Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said Wednesday that the Trump administration is engaged in a cover-up effort to hide the extent of the damage done to U.S. military bases in the Middle East by Iran this year.
Mr. Murphy, who recently returned from a political tour of the Gulf, said he was denied access to military facilities in Qatar that came under Iranian fire earlier this year and insisted that the Pentagon make clear the impact of Iranian attacks.
“This is just very clearly a cover-up. They do not want the American people to understand the damage that’s been done to these bases, and they don’t want members of Congress to have the opportunity to directly talk to our military leadership and our troops in the region,” he said at an event hosted by Washington-based think tank The Middle East Institute.
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Mr. Murphy added that regional military leadership and personnel are usually the most valuable sources for “the ungarnished truth” concerning the situation on the ground.
Mr. Murphy in October visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia, meeting with U.S. military officials in the region as well as political officials from both nations. He posted a viral video during the visit asserting that he had been denied total access to the Al Udeid Air Force Base and that he felt the Pentagon was trying to hide the true damage to the facility.
U.S. military bases and facilities have faced extensive damage since the war with Iran began in February, with bases in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates sustaining impacts.
The Department of Defense Inspector General report from September found that Iranian missile and drone strikes have damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures across the region. At least 18 U.S. servicemembers have been killed and 800 have been wounded as well.
Pentagon leadership and President Trump have faced intense accusations from members of Congress of downplaying or withholding the true extent of the damage since the war began.
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