US senator accuses Pentagon of blocking Qatar base visit

US Senator Chris Murphy alleged on Tuesday that the Pentagon blocked his visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, accusing them of attempting to conceal the impacts of the Iran war. Al Udeid is a major US base in the region that has been targeted by Iran multiple times during the conflict launched by the US and Israel in February. Speaking to journalists in Riyadh, Murphy stated, "This trip confirmed for me that there is an active, unprecedented, unconstitutional effort under way to hide the costs of this war and the implications of this war from Congress and the American people." The Pentagon had not yet commented on the matter.

Murphy also claimed that the Pentagon refused to provide him with a briefing on the war during his time in the region. He expressed that he had never experienced such an occurrence during his time in the Senate, and it was part of a deliberate campaign of obfuscation that his Republican colleagues in Congress should demand an end to.

The Connecticut senator has been sharing updates from his Middle East trip, asserting that he was the first Democrat to visit the region since the war commenced. Murphy noted that during his stay in Riyadh, he heard alerts due to incoming Houthi missiles, emphasizing that the situation has evolved into a full-scale regional war, as predicted by experts if the US had attacked Iran.

He revealed that he had visited the US embassy in Riyadh to check the damage from a drone attack early in the war. Murphy wrote on X, "If the attack had happened during the day, it would have been a mass-casualty event." Despite his criticisms towards the Pentagon, Murphy attributed his ability to visit to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's assistance, including setting up meetings with diplomats.

During his journey, Murphy met with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and other high-ranking Gulf officials.