The U.S. has burned through most of its best missiles fighting Iran, and that weakness could drag it into a ground war and embolden China — bad news all around.

• After five months of war with Iran, America has used up nearly all its long-range precision missiles, each costing over $1 million.
• It has also fired off about 65% of its Patriot air defense missiles, and the U.S. only builds enough to replace them slowly — years of catch-up.
• The fear inside the Pentagon is that, out of high-end weapons, the only way to keep hitting Iran is to put ground troops on Iranian soil to fire shorter-range missiles.
• Trump reportedly shifted from opposing the war to backing it after pressure from Israel and pro-Israel donors, sidelining his own intelligence advisers.
• With U.S. stockpiles drained worldwide, China could see this as the moment to lean on Taiwan, and Gulf states are quietly hedging away from Washington.

Outlook: Trump is being pushed toward escalation and possible boots on the ground, even as the war exposes how thin America's arsenal and global influence have become.