Washington Post: Six Officials Say Iran War Military Deaths Are at Least 22 or 23, Against 18 in the Pentagon Database

The Washington Post, syndicated by the Anchorage Daily News, reported on the Pentagon’s internal casualty accounting, citing six anonymous U.S. officials. More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data.

Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities - four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war.

On the public count: As of Friday, the Pentagon’s DCAS database lists 18 U.S. military fatalities, including deaths caused by hostile and nonhostile action dating to the start of the Iran conflict. As of Friday, 14 fatalities are listed in the database as having occurred during Operation Epic Fury, the Trump administration’s name for the Iran war. Four others, reflected in a separate category called Overseas Operations, date to a July ceasefire between Washington and Tehran that later collapsed leading to the resumption of attacks. More than 820 U.S. service members have been wounded in action since the Iran conflict began, the public casualty database says. Many have suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iranian counterstrikes on U.S. bases throughout the Middle East.

The Pentagon declined to address questions about the accounting discrepancy.