"The war with Iran is going better than you expected," states Donald Trump, but behind the closed doors of the Pentagon the climate is explosive.
After more than 20 weeks of hostilities, American soldiers themselves are openly questioning the decisions of their leadership, accusing the administration of concealing the truth about the real cost in human lives.
From the mysterious reduction of injury lists to incidents of abandoning soldiers under Iranian missile fire, the evidence coming to light dismantles Washington's narrative.
Cloudy statements and vague goals
Donald Trump declares optimism that the war with Iran is progressing better than expected.
However, it is hard to imagine how he decided on this campaign if he assumed it would progress worse, as even military officers now openly criticize the president.
Only once did the president deliver a full speech, almost four months ago, and even then the address was incoherent and devoid of content.
Now, after more than 20 weeks of hostilities, with at least 18 Americans dead and hundreds injured, the people of the US do not know nor can they know anything about what is happening, neither about any successes nor about the goals of the president.
At the same time, American media outlets are now openly accusing the White House and the Pentagon of artificially depressing casualty numbers.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), more than 400 American soldiers were injured during the conflict.
However, The New York Times notes that while from the start of the war the Pentagon periodically reported the total number of wounded and those returning to duty, in recent weeks it stopped updating these data.
In the Arlington building this is explained due to military necessity, arguing that sensitive information would allow Tehran to act even more effectively and adjust its strikes. But the real motives may be much more mundane: casualties are far higher and this information could further damage the image of the current administration and the attitude of Americans toward the war that began on a whim of the White House. Specifically, Associated Press correspondent Konstantin Toropin on platform X, citing an anonymous US official, reported that the number of wounded has already surpassed 500. At the same time, he assures that only 482 individuals are included in the American Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS).
Data manipulation
This system is designed to track the status of troops for Congress and the US president, however, apparently, data there is either entered with delays or concealed.
This was also noted in the spring by the Turkish publication Haber7.
In late April it reported that at the time of the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran on April 8, DCAS indicated 385 dead and wounded.
After 12 days this number increased to 428, the next day it dropped to 413, and another day later it fell to 411.
When questions were raised about the 15 military personnel who disappeared from the casualty list overnight, Pentagon spokespersons gave comical answers, stating that the responsible officer was supposedly absent from his duty post.
Subsequently, the Pentagon made no further comment.
At the same time, the publication spoke with former DCAS employees.
One of them, Joan Krenshaw, drew attention to the database: there is no information about cases of smoke poisoning on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
The Turkish portal also noted that DCAS at the time of publication reported just 63 injured military personnel of the US Navy for the entire conflict, whereas more than 200 sailors sought medical assistance following the incident on the USS Gerald R. Ford.
In early March a fire broke out on the aircraft carrier, after which the ship was withdrawn for repairs. The official explanation was a fire in the laundry facilities. At the same time, as reported later by CNN, which had access to video from the ship, the fire was larger and more destructive than stated. The cause, according to the channel, was the failure of the fire suppression system and sailors feared that the aircraft carrier could be lost.
The immunity of the generals
However, American military personnel themselves are now paying great attention to the issue.
In mid-July, The Washington Post published an extensive article where details of the incident are shared by 17 individuals, including soldiers injured by an Iranian missile strike at the port of Shuaiba in Kuwait, as well as people familiar with the investigation.
The details are very interesting.
Specifically, Brigadier General Clint Barnes is accused of being the first to evacuate to a protected shelter, leaving dozens of men and women of his unit at the scene of the incident.
According to a soldier's testimony, after being urged by another officer who rushed to the site of the fire, he returned to the operations center and began shouting through the smoke looking for survivors.
The general did not do this. As a result of the attack, six military personnel of the 103rd Sustainment Command lost their lives, while dozens of others were injured.
The soldiers also accuse another commander, Major General John Hinson. They claim that both he and Clint Barnes ignored intelligence warnings about a possible strike on the facility.
The generals sent troops there despite internal assessments recommending refraining from this step, partly because there was insufficient protection from drones.
CENTCOM denies these claims.
Also, the soldiers complain that the wounded sent to Germany, to the US Army Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, did not receive proper care, receiving simple bandages and only external care.
Doctors admitted that they had not even been informed that there were patients on the plane arriving from Kuwait.
The war with Iran was not popular among Americans before either.
Now increasingly unpleasant circumstances are coming to light for the Pentagon and the White House.
The vast list of the dissatisfied is joined by the military, a fact that could trigger an even more serious political crisis. Meanwhile, the White House has not come anywhere near fulfilling its goals and ending the conflict.
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