A group of Democratic legislators intensified pressure on the Pentagon by demanding explanations about the circumstances surrounding the attack with an Iranian drone that left six US soldiers dead and dozens injured in Kuwait, considering that there may have been failures in the protection of the troops and in the subsequent medical response.
In a letter sent this Wednesday to Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the congressmen requested detailed information on the preparation of the forces deployed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, where on March 1, just one day after the start of the war between the United States and Iran, a drone hit a military operations center.
The six deceased soldiers, members of the Army Reserve and assigned to the 103rd Expeditionary Support Command, based in Des Moines, Iowa, became the first American casualties of the conflict.
“As you and President Donald Trump continue to put military lives at risk in this reckless war, the American people deserve answers about whether you were adequately prepared to protect the military from Iranian attacks and provide them with the care they needed,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Hegseth.
The War Department declined to comment on the content of the letter and said it would respond “directly to the authors” of the request.
The congressmen maintain that the Pentagon has not yet provided Congress with the results of the Army's internal investigation into the attack, despite previous requests for information.
In addition, they assure that there are reports according to which the personnel stationed in Port Shuaiba had requested greater medical resources and defense systems against drones before the attack, requests that were allegedly not attended to.
The letter also questions the care provided to the injured. Lawmakers say some service members faced delays in their evacuation and access to specialized treatments, including tests to diagnose traumatic brain injuries.
Among the 23 questions addressed to Secretary Hegseth are requests to know what protection systems were in place before the attack, how many service members were injured during the campaign against Iran, how casualties were classified and when the Army's full investigation will be made public. Lawmakers set a deadline of August 12 to receive a response.
The demand for explanations adds to investigations opened since April by Democratic senators and representatives, who had already expressed doubts about the security conditions at the Kuwait base.
While Republicans have largely supported President Donald Trump's strategy, Democratic lawmakers have questioned both the legality of the intervention and the human cost of the campaign and the preparation of the forces deployed in the region.
Now, the death of the six reservists has reignited that debate and placed Secretary Hegseth's management under scrutiny. The legislators insist that clarifying what happened will not only determine whether there were avoidable errors, but also reinforce the protection of the more than 50,000 US military personnel who remain deployed in the Middle East against the threat of new attacks with Iranian drones and missiles.
