The U.S. military doesn't have enough missiles to defend itself and its allies, which has implications beyond the Iran War. The United States stopped bombing because it was running short of the missiles it needs to defend its own soldiers. The United States builds something on the order of 600 Patriot interceptors a year. Here is why a reader outside the United States should care, and why the story does not stay in the Gulf. For years the argument for deterring China over Taiwan has rested on the assumption that the United States can bring overwhelming and sustained force to the western Pacific.