In the long history of wars that outlast their early promises, the conflict with Iran has produced a familiar tension: the gap between what power claims and what accounting reveals. The Pentagon's independent watchdog has confirmed, through the first public reckoning of its kind, that American munitions reserves have been meaningfully depleted and that resupply chains are under strain — findings the White House continues to reject. With $33 billion spent in roughly four months, critical air defense systems drawn down by half, and public confidence in the war's direction fading, the nation find