On July 24, the Pentagon website that lists casualties of military conflicts removed information on four American soldiers that were killed in the Iran War, which Trump illegally started on February 28, artificially bringing the number down from eighteen to fourteen deceased.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell vaguely stated that “the site errors on the Defense Casualty Analysis System were due to a temporary data disruption.” This has never happened in any prior military conflict. What further makes Parnell’s excuse questionable is that it is already known that the Trump administration has intentionally concealed military deaths related to the Iran War. The three United States troops killed in Jordan were listed as having been involved in Operation Inherent Resolve, the counterterrorism operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), rather than Operation Epic Fury, which is the war against Iran. This is despite Trump making it officially known to Congress that Operation Epic Fury was back online after a ceasefire. After this, they were listed as having fallen in “overseas operations,” then added to the list casualties under Operation Epic Fury, then removed.
The military is required to file a DD 1300 Report of Casualty when a service member perishes.
The Trump administration, despite its claim of being transparent, has not briefed defense officials since May. The Pentagon has also been slow to update its assessment on Commander Gabriel Edwards, who went missing on July 1 following an emergency landing. It is also removing data on injured United States troops, lowering the amount from 482 to 420; in reality, a United States official claims that the 482 figure is lower than the real number of injured troops.
