Vice President JD Vance took the unusual step over the spring and summer of calling U.S. military commanders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia directly, in order to get their “unvarnished assessments” of the Iran war, the New York Times reported on Sept. 10. The Times contrasted the sobering private assessments Vance received with what top administration officials, the president and vice president included, have said publicly about the situation. The article claims to be based on interviews with more than a half-dozen current and former officials.

The commanders were blunt. Their biggest worry was depleted stocks of Patriot interceptors, the backbone of their air defenses, and they told the vice president that stocks of critical munitions were “the lowest they had ever seen.” By late spring, one theater was down to fewer than 100 Patriots, and the war had also used up that theater’s Army Tactical Missile Systems along with the Precision Strike Missiles meant to replace them.