U.S. soldiers wounded in the Iran war’s deadliest strike yet on American troops are raising concerns publicly, many for the first time, about whether commanders underestimated the threat. Some of those wounded also said the military medical system failed them. The Pentagon has so far released few details about the Iranian drone strike on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait that killed six soldiers on March 1, the day after the U.S. and Israel started the war against
Iran.
Now entering its eighth month, the war— and its upheaval of the economy — is dragging down Republican candidates as Americans begin voting in the midterm elections. President Donald Trump takes his GOP rescue mission on Monday Nebraska, where ranchers are rebelling against record diesel prices and Trump's plans to import more beef. Democrats meanwhile are expressing confidence that Trump's redistricting efforts will backfire.
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As the war with Iran enters its eighth month, U.S. soldiers wounded in its deadliest strike yet on American troops are raising concerns publicly, many for the first time, about whether commanders underestimated the threat. Some of those wounded also said the military medical system failed them. The Pentagon has released few details about the Iranian drone strike on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait that killed six soldiers on March 1, the day after the United States and Israel started the war against Iran.
The Associated Press spoke with 13 soldiers, primarily officers, serving in key positions of responsibility there or familiar with high-level briefings. Many said the Pentagon did not take Iranian threats seriously enough as it launched Operation Epic Fury. Some of the wounded soldiers said they've faced inadequate medical care and bureaucratic barriers since then. Several soldiers spoke on the record — rare for troops still in the Army — others on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
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By Julie Watson, Jack Brook, Konstantin Toropin and Russ Bynum
The Army declined to comment on the AP’s reporting on the Port Shuaiba strike, saying it had not yet briefed the families of those killed on the outcome of its investigation into the attack. The Pentagon also declined to comment.
“Out of respect for the primary next of kin who will be scheduled for briefs on the official findings of the completed investigation, we will not comment on specific details, individual accounts, or leaked portions of the report at this time,” the Army said in a statement.
The Army completed its investigation of the attack in June, but has yet to release a report due to the need to redact sensitive information, said an official familiar with the Army’s investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been released.
“We have the right to know what really happened,” said Tina Marzan, whose husband, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, was killed in the strike.
By Julie Watson, Jack Brook, Konstantin Toropin and Russ Bynum
Nine U.S. service members wounded in a March 1 drone strike on a U.S. military site in Kuwait that killed six troops spoke to The Associated Press about what they describe as a medical system that left them fighting to get treatment on their own. The soldiers’ criticism comes against the backdrop of years of disinvestment and drawdowns in the Middle East driven by multiple administrations and political leaders who sought to end U.S. involvement in the region.
The Pentagon has said all soldiers were treated appropriately and evaluated by physicians who followed the health industry’s standards.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rodney Bearman, who had shrapnel embedded from his face to his legs, said they waited 10 days for treatment in Germany only to learn they wouldn't be hospitalized because they weren't documented as wounded in combat, and so were told to get outpatient care.
“Never did I think that if I was wounded that these things would happen,” said Bearman, who has served for over three decades, including in Afghanistan. “Some sacred trust that I thought would never be broken was broken.”
By Julie Watson, Jack Brook, Konstantin Toropin and Russ Bynum
The Georgia Democrat plans to campaign with Democratic candidates for Senate, governor and possibly other offices across eight states beginning Tuesday in New Hampshire, which falls third in Democrats’ 2028 presidential primary calendar.
Nevada is second on Warnock’s itinerary and for Democrats in 2028. The senator has two separate stops planned in South Carolina, Democrats’ first presidential primary state. Also on the list is the early primary state of Michigan, along with Mississippi, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Spokeswoman Elena Radding said Warnock will be “calling out Trump’s corruption” and “leaving voters hopeful for the next generation of Democratic leadership.”
Warnock, who is also the senior minister at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. served, has not ruled out a presidential bid. He’s already spent recent months traveling the country on a book tour — another common move for potential national candidates.
Voters in rural parts of the country are divided on whether Trump’s immigration policies have benefited or harmed their communities, according to a newly released AP-KFF survey of more than 2,000 rural voters.
About one-third of rural voters said the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement had been positive for their community and about a third said it had been negative. The remaining 3 in 10, roughly, said it had no impact.
Laura Leigh Taylor, a 37-year-old farmer who voted for Trump in 2024, said she disapproves of the wide-ranging scope of Trump’s immigration crackdown, which resulted in a friend’s hardworking father being deported.
“I understand getting rid of the rapists and the murderers,” she said. “But all the people that fell in between that really weren’t doing nothing but taking care of their family.”
President Donald Trump is taking his Republican midterm rescue mission to Nebraska. He’ll campaign Monday alongside GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts, who’s being challenged by an independent candidate backed by national Democrats.
The race between the former Nebraska governor and independent Dan Osborn initially was not expected to be competitive, but voters across the country are frustrated with Trump’s handling of the economy, including persistently high costs for fuel and groceries. Rural voters in particular are hurting, and ranchers have rebelled against Trump’s efforts to increase imports of foreign beef.
“The plan to import low-quality foreign beef is not helping Nebraska ranchers,” Ricketts told the AP. “I would advise the White House to change that policy and look for longer-term things that will help us build the size of the herd and ultimately bring the price of beef down for consumers.”
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