But by late Friday, Mr. Trump appeared to temporarily put aside the bigger bombing plans, apparently persuaded, at least in part, by his military advisers’ assessment of dwindling supplies of munitions to defend American troops in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, whose bases there have come under heavy Iranian fire in the past two weeks. A major attack would most likely have drawn a heavier Iranian retaliation, putting more pressure on U.S. air defenses.
In late April, The New York Times
reported that the Pentagon had used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million apiece, leaving inventories worrisomely low, according to internal Defense Department estimates and congressional officials. The situation has worsened since then, military officials said this week.
