Pentagon prepares for Israeli-US war on Iran that could last 'until September'
The Pentagon is rushing to expand intelligence operations as Washington prepares for a prolonged war on Iran launched alongside Israel, with military planning now stretching well into the autumn.
A report by the US outlet Politico on Wednesday revealed that US Central Command has asked the Pentagon to deploy additional military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
The reinforcements would support operations against Iran for at least 100 days and potentially until September.
The request marks the first known move by the Trump administration to increase intelligence personnel for the war and signals that Washington is preparing for a far longer campaign than initially presented to the public.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump suggested the military campaign might last four to five weeks but warned it could “go far longer than that”.
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The rapid effort to mobilise more personnel and resources exposes how unprepared Washington was for the scale of the unprovoked conflict it launched together with Israel.
Military operations of this magnitude are usually planned months in advance, yet the sudden scramble inside the Pentagon indicates officials underestimated the fallout of the assault on Iran, reported Politico.
Previous reporting by Politico on 25 February revealed that senior advisers to Trump preferred Israel strike Iran first before the United States launched its own assault.
That sequence ultimately unfolded, drawing Washington directly into the war.
Israeli-US attacks on Iran have killed at least 1,000 people and wounded hundreds more, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
The group said the casualties include more than 165, mostly children, killed in a double-tap strike on an elementary school, one of the deadliest incidents reported since the war began.
Meanwhile, the United States Central Command said on Monday that six US military personnel had been killed in Kuwait following an Iranian strike.
The conflict now threatens to dominate Trump’s presidency and deepen divisions within his political base, where many supporters oppose fighting another war in the Middle East on Israel’s behalf.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly acknowledged that Israel’s moves forced Washington’s hand.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” Rubio explained.
“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Rubio’s remarks underline Washington’s refusal to restrain Israel even when Israeli decisions drag the United States into a major regional war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on to openly celebrate the second Israeli-US war with Iran in less than a year.
On Sunday, he said the attacks on Iran were being carried out with “the assistance of the United States, my friend, US President Donald Trump, and the US military”.
He also framed the war as the culmination of a decades-long objective.
“This coalition of forces allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years. … This is what I promised - and this is what we shall do.”
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