Pentagon's Iran War Cost Estimate Disputed as Hidden Expenses Emerge

In a Senate hearing room this week, the cost of America's war with Iran became a matter of contested arithmetic — and contested conscience. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presented a figure of $37.5 billion to lawmakers, even as sources familiar with Pentagon accounting suggest the true toll, when infrastructure damage is included, runs considerably higher. With eighteen service members dead since February and a $67 billion emergency funding request on the table, the nation finds itself weighing not only what this war costs in dollars, but what it costs in clarity, strategy, and trust between