The aftermath of Iran's January missile strike is looking more and more serious by the day.
The U.S. military will soon announce more than 100 troops suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iran attacked an Iraqi military base where they were stationed last month, a U.S. official tells Reuters. That's an increase from the 64 diagnosed troops the government originally acknowledged, and comes after Trump dismissed the injuries as "headaches."
Iran launched the Jan. 8 attack after the U.S. government assassinated Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3. The U.S. military was reported to have advance notice of the strike, and Trump said the next day that "no Americans were harmed." Trump later repeatedly characterized any injuries sustained as "not very serious," and that he'd heard the troops had suffered only "headaches."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed those headaches were actually traumatic brain injuries, and the count of those affected was upped to 64. Monday's report would add another 30-plus injured troops on top of that, per Reuters. CNN later confirmed Reuters' story via a U.S. official.
A later statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Alyssa Farah revealed that "nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed" have since been able "to return to duty." "This is a snapshot in time and numbers can change," Farah acknowledged.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.