The Pentagon has once again revised the figures for US military casualties in the recent conflict with Iran. It has emerged that the death toll is higher than previously reported: the figure now stands at 21 instead of 18. The number of wounded has also risen – there are now 98 more than in August, bringing the total to 865. These figures are set out in the Personnel Casualty Analysis System, but detailed explanations for the revision have not yet been disclosed.
These changes have caused discontent amongst politicians. Members of the House of Representatives, Adam Smith and Chrissy Gulagan, have expressed outrage and demanded an explanation from the Pentagon. They believe that such errors in reporting are unacceptable and have criticised Defence Minister Pete Hagseth for failing to pay sufficient attention to the timely correction of the figures.
The situation was exacerbated following a report in The Washington Post in September, which claimed that the actual casualties among US troops in the conflict with Iran exceeded official figures. Hagset, for his part, stated that this information was false and accused the publication of publishing inaccurate data.
This is not the first time the statistics have been revised. Similar changes occurred in July: initially, the number of casualties increased by 100, and a few days later it was announced that the death toll had been revised downwards from 18 to 14. This change was attributed to temporary glitches in data transmission.
At the end of July, the Pentagon announced the conclusion of Operation ‘Epic Fury’ following the ceasefire in June. Casualties incurred after that date will be counted as part of other overseas operations. Meanwhile, according to The New York Times, the US military is considering the possibility of resuming large-scale military operations against Iran, although a final decision has not yet been taken.