From§Each

Page B1From§Eachthe sunrise edition — 7 October 2026

Senate Democrats ask for the war's cost; a senator is barred from the base that would prove it.

By MortThe Records Bureau

“Senator Says Hegseth Barred Him From Gulf Base to 'Cover Up the True Cost' of Iran War”, 7 October 2026 (Photo via Common Dreams — the original report)

As it ran on the front

Pentagon transparency on this war died this week. That was reported here before. What follows is what happened to the question the estimate raised: if the Pentagon knew the number, would it say so.

In a dispatch dated September 3rd, the Washington Examiner reported the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a departure Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's own allies read as confirmation that Driscoll was never aligned with Hegseth's "radical transformation" of the department's culture. Six days later, on September 9th, Workers World described an internal conflict inside the Pentagon that had, in its own words, spilled into the main corporate media.…

…(cont) On September 17th, every Senate Democrat but one signed a letter asking Hegseth for a plain accounting of what the Iran war has cost. Three weeks passed. The letter went unanswered.

This week the bill came due twice. Senator Chris Murphy, touring the Gulf, asked to inspect Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American installation in the Middle East, struck by Iranian missiles in the war's opening days, its damage still undisclosed. The Pentagon would not let him on the base and would not arrange a briefing. Murphy told reporters in Riyadh that Hegseth was working to cover up the true cost of the war. The same week, in the Times, a Special Forces veteran sat down with the columnist David French to take up the question of Hegseth's Pentagon. What was said there is not yet part of this record — only that the sitting down happened, the same week a senator was turned away at the gate.

Pentagon transparency on this war is survived by the receipt still not produced, and by a senator who flew to the Gulf and flew home without seeing the base he came to see.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that the Department of War give the Congress that funds it the accounting it asked for three weeks ago.

“They send a letter asking what the war costs, wait three weeks, get nothing, and the one guy who actually shows up to look at the base gets turned away at the gate. That's not a scheduling conflict, that's a receipt nobody's allowed to read. When the man cutting the checks won't let the people who approved them count the till, you're the one who ends up owing whatever's on it.”
Sal
“Look, you don't let a senator wander a forward base mid-conflict, that's just sound operational security, that's how it's always worked. Did I say "always"? There's precedent somewhere, I'll find it. The Secretary's said the cost figures are coming once they're finalized — they've been finalized since mid-September, forget I said that.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

Senator Says Hegseth Barred Him From Gulf Base to 'Cover Up the True Cost' of Iran War Hegseth blocked a senator from a bombed US base to hide the war's cost, he says
Common Dreams§

A US senator visiting the Persian Gulf said Tuesday that the Pentagon blocked him from inspecting a heavily damaged American military installation and refused to arrange a briefing on the Iran War, accusing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of mounting an "unprecedented" effort to conceal the conflict's costs and consequences from lawmakers…

· Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Democratic senators request Pentagon provide ‘bare minimum’ on cost of Iran war from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Hegseth allies believe he and Driscoll were not aligned on ‘radical transformation’ of Pentagon’s culture from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Internal conflict shakes up the Pentagon from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· U.N. experts say U.S. may have committed war crimes with 2 Iran strikes from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Trump Says 'Big Decision' Coming on Whether to 'Annihilate' Iran from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategy from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· CBO Finds Trump's Iran War Has Already Cost Nearly $40 Billion—And That's a 'Conservative' Estimate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis supports Hegseth impeachment resolution: 'He needs to go' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie Files Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth for Illegal Iran War, Boat Murders from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Massie launches effort to impeach Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis urges Trump to fire Hegseth over 'inept management' of military from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Tillis renews calls for Hegseth’s firing after Driscoll’s departure: ‘I have never witnessed more inept management’ from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Farmer who voted for Trump says farmers are "all just in survival mode" from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Farmer who voted for Trump says "I can't stay in business" amid rising costs from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie says he’s convinced enough Republicans to pass Epstein Files II discharge petition from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie names Epstein 'coconspirators,' discusses new Epstein files legislation from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Read Thomas Massie’s eight impeachment charges against Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Fake Republican midterm convention site still redirects to Epstein files from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Trump says he has a ‘big decision’ coming up on Iran: ‘Do I want to go in and annihilate them’ from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Fox News Poll: 71% think Trump administration lacks plan to end Iran war from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran recently downed at least 2 American drones, officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Big Oil Stocks Surged Due to Iran War—and New Filings Show How President Trump Cashed In from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026

· Live updates: Energy secretary downplays rising gas prices as US, Iran trade strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· U.S. Strike on Iranian School May Have Been War Crime, U.N. Report Says from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN Inquiry Finds US Strike on Minab, Iran That Killed 123 Children Was War Crime from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN investigators conclude ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe certain US strikes in Iran were war crimes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· UN Suspects US War Crimes in Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· US Condemned for 'War Crimes' After Bombing of Wedding Party in Iran from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· US investigating if missile hit Iranian wedding ceremony, killing 4 from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Trump says he has a ‘big decision coming up’ on Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· White House issues explosive response to UN-backed report claiming US committed war crimes against world’s No.1 sponsor of terror, Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Human rights experts: 'Reasonable grounds' to believe US committed war crimes with Iran strikes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· US Energy Consumers Have Spent $121 Billion Extra Since Trump Launched Iran War: Moody's from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran downed at least 2 American drones in recent days, U.S. officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Iran: Account of US Air Force colonel's rescue 'fictional' from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Consumer Burden of Trump Iran War Exceeds $100 Billion as Oil Prices Pass $100 a Barrel from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· 'A Serious and Alarming Threat': US Bombing, Blockade Deepen Iran Medical Crisis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Consumer Confidence Hits Lowest Level in Months as US Faces 'Trump's Reckless Tariffs and War With Iran' from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026

· U.S. Air Force officer rescued from Iran speaks for the first time to 60 Minutes from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth's impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· Did Johnson Just Adjourn Congress for 7 Weeks to Avoid Massie's Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth? from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Massie saying Johnson is sending the House home early to prevent Hegseth impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· ‘You’re Elected to Fight and Kill the Other Side’: How Congress Lost Its Way from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· Army combat veteran challenging Mike Lawler calls Hegseth national security 'hazard,' backs impeachment from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· Former Air Force secretary says he 'couldn't serve' in Trump administration from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· Former Air Force secretary: Hegseth's Pentagon 'dysfunctional' from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· House Republicans split over leaving Washington early for campaign trail from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Since 2025, Trump Made More Stock Trades Than All 535 Congress Members Combined from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· Fossil Fuel Advertising Contracts Hit Record High as Big Oil Pockets Billions From Iran War from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· 'How are we gonna get through this?' Many Americans are struggling as prices rise from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· Trump's Top Oil Stocks Have Made Him Up to $4.4 Million Richer During Iran War: Analysis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Gas prices reach Labor Day high amid Iran war from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

· Warsh under pressure as Fed weighs rate hike from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Inflation held at 3.4% in August in consumer price index, creating tough choice for Warsh Fed from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Warsh indicates Fed could raise rates to cool inflation from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· Key U.S. Bond Rate Near 20-Year High as Oil Prices Keep Climbing from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· 10-year Treasury yield hits highest level since 2007, oil surges above $105 as Fed expected to hike interest rates from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Benchmark mortgage rate hits 14-month high as bond yields keep rising from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Benchmark mortgage rate hits highest mark in over a year from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Goldman Sachs warns oil prices could hit $120 as U.S. fuel costs surge from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Massie Moves to Force Impeachment Vote Against Hegseth, Citing Civilian Deaths from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· GOP Rep Thomas Massie introduces 8 articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Republican Rep. Massie moves to impeach Defense Secretary Hegseth over Iran war from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Thomas Massie Forces Vote To Impeach Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Pete Hegseth Faces Growing Criticism as War With Iran Rolls On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Hegseth Quietly Extends Middle East Troop Deployments Into 2027 as Iran War Drags On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Costco imposes purchase limits on motor oil, hikes prices by nearly double from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· As gas averages $4.31 nationwide, diesel fuel hits all-time high: "It's painful. It's real hard" from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Costco Raises Motor Oil Price, Caps Customer Purchases As Iran War Drags On from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· 'Can't Message That Away': GOP Frets as Trump Administration Desperately Spins Record-High Diesel Prices from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026

· European Union member states agree to a natural gas price cap in an attempt to limit economic damage from the global energy crisis. The price cap can be triggered beginning on February 15, if for thre from the morgue, 19 Dec 2022

· Spike on 10-year bond yields renews concerns over U.S. debt from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· 10-Year Treasury Yield Reaches 5%, Highest Level in Years from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Treasury reveals $6B in debt buybacks, triple the normal level – but markets slump from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Trump blames rise in diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refineries from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Trump blames rising diesel price on Russia-Ukraine war from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· What Is Driving Diesel Prices Up? Energy Chaos Caused by Two Wars. from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.