On Thursday, the acting United States Navy secretary, Hung Cao, was asked by a Senate committee about $14bn in weapons sales to Taiwan that Congress has approved but that President Donald Trump needs to sign off on.“Right now we’re doing a pause,” said Cao, “in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listEpic Fury is the name of the US military operation that the Trump administration launched on February 28 against Iran. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since stated that Epic Fury was over, so Cao’s comments on needing munitions for the operation appeared to contradict the US’s top diplomat.But the Navy secretary’s comments on needing munitions for the Iran war also hit at another contradiction between the administration’s claims and the facts.While Cao was adamant that the pause in supplies to Taiwan was not due to a critical shortage of weapons – echoing other officials in the Trump administration – there’s growing evidence that the US is running through its munitions and missiles in the war on Iran much faster than they can be replenished.That strain was captured by Cao’s own comments. “We’re just making sure we have everything, then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary,” he told senators.On Thursday, The Was …
