Senate Democrats say Pentagon wasn't ready for Iranian retaliation on US troops [View all]

Source: ABC News

April 27, 2026, 5:14 AM


A group of Senate Democrats are pressing the Pentagon over what they describe as failures to protect U.S. troops against retaliatory strikes from Iran. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- argue the Pentagon did not take "basic precautions" ahead of expected Iranian retaliation after the U.S. and Israel launched a war against the regime in late February.

The trio cited the first American casualties in the conflict, a group of six soldiers in Kuwait, which exposed Iran’s ability to target and strike U.S. service members with attack drones. The U.S. approach suffered from a lack of "plans to prevent possible harm from foreseeable attacks," the senators argued, "like retaliation with drone strikes."

ABC News reported the facility in Kuwait that was targeted by Iranian drones was largely unfortified, surrounded by six-foot concrete walls, details the lawmakers seized on to underscore what they view as a broad lapse in protection from attack.

"We are concerned that this is part of a larger pattern in which this administration has failed to protect Americans in the region from Iranian retaliation," they wrote. Warren said in a statement to ABC News that Hegseth "must be held accountable." "Hegseth’s leadership has been one betrayal after another," she said. ABC News has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.

Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/senate-democrats-pentagon-ready-iranian-retaliation-us-troops/story?id=132365136