Graffiti scrawled by US service members in the Persian Gulf points to collapsing morale in an open-ended Iran campaign, a bad sign for the White House and for the troops themselves.

• Messages scratched into aircraft dust mock the mission as fought for Israel rather than America, with jabs at Netanyahu and the Epstein scandal.
• The anger is striking because troops are one of Trump's strongest voting blocs, especially enlisted men.
• Crews are stuck on carriers indefinitely, enforcing a blockade and facing drone and missile attacks, with deaths already at nearby bases.
• Trump says he is in no hurry, wants Iran to surrender, and threatened to bomb Oman if it interferes with talks over the Strait of Hormuz.
• Almost no one inside the administration pushed back before the war started — less dissent than over Vietnam or Iraq — because Trump surrounds himself with people who only tell him good news.

Outlook: With no end date and mounting losses, troop discontent is likely to grow into a political problem well before the midterms.