We Called Out the Pentagon for Undercounting U.S. Casualties in Iran. They Keep Doing It.

The Intercept
by Nick Turse
April 8, 2026
2 views
7 min read

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The Bottom Line

The Pentagon is undercounting U.S. casualties from the Iran war, misleading the public and policymakers.

How This Affects You

The true human cost of military operations may be hidden, potentially affecting public support or understanding of ongoing conflicts.

AI Summary

The Pentagon continues to provide misleading U.S. casualty figures from the Iran war, undercounting both deaths and injuries despite reports from The Intercept. The Office of the Secretary of War issued a new tally for Operation Epic Fury, but it still omits personnel like Maj. Sorffly Davius, who died in Kuwait on March 6, 2026. This undercounting persists amid a fragile ceasefire and conflicting figures within the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), which lists 372 wounded on one page and 357 on another. CENTCOM also claimed 303 U.S. service members were wounded, while omitting over 200 sailors injured in a USS Gerald R. Ford fire. The Trump administration previously peddled "complete fiction" about casualties after a 2020 Iranian missile attack, and President Trump recently claimed "nobody was even injured" in a Saturday rescue mission, despite evidence of profuse bleeding.

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