'Cherry-picking numbers': Trump admin slams report claiming Pentagon withheld data on troop injuries in Iran war
The Pentagon has allegedly withheld information about dozens of American service members injured in Iranian strikes on US bases in Jordan, The New York Times reported.In the week before Friday’s attack that killed two US soldiers and left another missing, Iran carried out three other strikes against US forces in Jordan, according to several US officials. Those strikes wounded dozens of troops and damaged several helicopters, the officials said.These injuries were never disclosed by the Pentagon.A US military official told the NYT that Central Command is not obligated to release information about injured service members, particularly when they return to duty quickly. Another official said the Pentagon would not share information that could help Iran fine-tune its attacks on bases housing thousands of American troops.
More than 400 US troops injured since war began
More than 400 US service members have been wounded in the Iran conflict, according to Central Command. The Pentagon had previously reported the total number of troops injured and returned to duty, but has stopped updating that figure in recent weeks.In a Saturday statement, Central Command said four American troops wounded in Friday’s attack were taken to Jordanian hospitals and had been discharged. It said more troops received minor injuries and returned to duty, but did not specify how many. The statement did not mention troops injured in the three earlier strikes in Jordan last week.
Pentagon denies withholding information
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell rejected the NYT report, calling it “baseless and malicious accusations” and “outright lies from partisan hacks at the New York Times.”“The Department of War rejects these baseless and malicious accusations of hiding injury numbers as outright lies from partisan hacks at the New York Times who are desperate to smear America’s military and its leadership,” Parnell said.He added: “Claims of concealment are fabrications meant to further distress the American people in the wake of three service members killed in action. Disgusting behavior, even for the New York Times.”Parnell said US military casualty information is publicly available and regularly updated online on the Defense Casualty Analysis System for everyone, including the media, to review. He also argued that “injuries in the military encompass everything from minor sprained ankles during routine training to incidents entirely unrelated to combat operations. Cherry-picking raw numbers without context paints a deliberately misleading and incomplete picture.“He said the military was “the most transparent Department of War in history” and challenged the “so-called journalists who wrote these lies” to “stop the smears against the finest warfighting force on Earth.”
Pentagon protocols and presidential response
The Pentagon’s casualty reporting protocols require publicly identifying deceased service members only after 24 hours have passed since next of kin were notified. The names of troops wounded in action are not typically released.In a brief phone call with NewsNation, President Trump said the troops died “in service of our country” and reiterated the war’s primary goal of “never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”The deaths of two Army soldiers in Jordan on Friday and another in northern Iraq bring to 17 the total number of US military personnel killed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.
