Hegseth caught altering Iran war death toll

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was caught manipulating Iran war casualty figures, exploiting coverage loopholes to scale back reported statistics as public opposition mounts against him and President Donald Trump relating to the battle.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon acknowledged that 18 American service members had been killed in the Iran war, but by Thursday, the Department of War had revised the determine down to 14.

Military officers informed The New York Times that the Trump administration eliminated 4 service members killed this past weekend — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — from the rely because their deaths occurred after Trump announced a ceasefire in April.

However, Joel Valdez, the performing Pentagon press secretary, attributed the revision to “temporary data disruptions” on the Pentagon’s web site, which he promised could be resolved promptly.

Following the ceasefire breakdown, the Pentagon has supplied minimal particulars about American navy operations and has been reluctant to disclose data relating to troop accidents — the last Pentagon briefing befell in early May, reviews the Mirror US.

The Department of Defense argued that revealing particulars about Iranian assaults on installations housing U.S. troops would jeopardize operational security. The Pentagon hid data about three Iranian strikes last week in Jordan, which wounded dozens of U.S. service members and destroyed a number of helicopters.

Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell revealed that U.S. navy casualties have climbed to practically 100 since July 7, following the Iranian assault in Jordan that claimed three troopers’ lives.

The Pentagon famous that while federal law requires reporting troop fatalities, there’s no related mandate for accidents. However, critics, including Democratic senators, have argued the Trump administration has an obligation to disclose all data regarding navy operations.

Military fatalities have emerged as a major problem for Trump and Hegseth, notably given their repeated criticism of former President Joe Biden, his protection secretary Lloyd Austin, and, at occasions, former Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing them of bearing personal accountability for the deaths of 13 American service members in a 2021 suicide bombing in Kabul.

“These people shouldn’t have died,” Trump acknowledged to podcaster Lex Fridman in 2024. “They died because of Biden and because of Kamala. They died just like if they pulled the trigger.”

The assault also claimed the lives of dozens of Afghans. The DOD announced it is getting ready to unveil a review of the Afghanistan withdrawal commissioned by Hegseth.

That evaluation, overseen by Parnell, will “ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation,” Hegseth acknowledged last yr. The Pentagon has also distinguished between troops killed in fight and those who perished in accidents.

As of Wednesday, figures indicated that 11 service members had been killed in hostilities and seven in accidents linked to the war.

Trump has also repeatedly referenced the upper death toll, citing the determine of 18 in current speeches and rallies.

The president attended the dignified switch of 4 service members’ stays at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, honoring them all as “great heroes” while asserting they all acknowledged before their deaths, “that we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump subsequently introduced one of the bereaved households to his political rally in Georgia.