‘Shameful’: Pentagon accused of cover-up over US military casualties in Iran war

The number of US troops killed in the war on Iran ​rose to 18 last weekend, while ‌roughly 430 US troops ​have been injured. Illustration: Guardian Design View image in fullscreen The number of US troops killed in the war on Iran ​rose to 18 last weekend, while ‌roughly 430 US troops ​have been injured. Illustration: Guardian Design ‘Shameful’: Pentagon accused of cover-up over US military casualties in Iran war No press briefing has been held for months, as the defence department belatedly or inaccurately releases figures The Pentagon is taking a “shameful approach” to releasing information about US casualties in the Iran war, Leon Panetta , a former defence secretary and CIA director, has told the Guardian. The defence department has not held a press briefing for two-and-a-half months. Officials have faced accusations that they are engaged in a cover-up designed to hide the true cost of Donald Trump ’s war of choice in Iran, fearing a public backlash before November’s midterm elections. Panetta, who held weekly Pentagon briefings during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, criticised the department for failing to disclose how many people had been hurt in bomb attacks by Iran on US bases. Pentagon list of service members killed in Iran war removes most recent four Read more “There’s a deliberate effort here to basically withhold information from the American people, and I think it represents in many ways a shameful approach to sharing the responsibility that we all have when it comes to fighting a war ,” he said by phone. View image in fullscreen Leon Panetta at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on 22 August 2024. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A fragile ceasefire between the ​US and Iran collapsed earlier this month and both ​sides have been carrying out daily strikes against each other, prompting fears of a quagmire and a betrayal of Trump’s campaign promise to eschew “forever wars”. The number of US troops killed in the war on Iran ​rose to 18 last weekend, while ‌roughly 430 US troops ​have been injured. The Pentagon said on ​Monday that 100 service members had been injured since 7 July but that 96% had returned to duty. The department initially failed to disclose the figures, according to a New York Times newspaper report , only belatedly acknowledging the casualties in a social media post. Officials dismissed the Times’ article as “ baseless and malicious ” and contend that they are not strictly required to publicise injuries if service members are expected to return to duty. But questions intensified when another Times report said the Pentagon’s website had lowered the number of troop deaths from 18 to 14; Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, blamed “a temporary data disruption” . Critics, however, say the information blackout is a calculated political strategy to hide a failing military intervention. Ned Price , a former deputy to the US representative to the United Nations and former spokesperson for the state department, said: “