The Number of Concussion Injuries in Iranian Missile Attack on US Base Rises to 50

With Iranians being able to do this no wonder Trump was looking to downplay it and have the matter over with rather than escalate again

Despite the advanced warning, not a single missile was shot down

Fifty US military personnel have now been diagnosed with concussions and traumatic brain injuries following the Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq earlier this month, according to a statement Tuesday from the Pentagon.

That’s an increase of 16 from late last week when the Pentagon said 34 cases had been diagnosed.

“As of today, 50 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with TBI,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell said in the statement.

“Of these 50, 31 total service members were treated in Iraq and returned to duty, including 15 of the additional service members who have been diagnosed since the previous report. 18 service members have been transported to Germany for further evaluation and treatment. This is an increase of one service member from the previous report. As previously reported, one service member had been transported to Kuwait and has since returned to duty,” the statement added.

Several Pentagon officials told CNN that the number of diagnosed cases is likely to continue to change. Approximately 200 people who were in the blast zone at the time of the attack have been screened for symptoms.

Although traumatic brain injuries are not always apparent immediately after they’ve been suffered, the disclosure of injured US service members indicates that the impact of the attack was more serious than initial assessments indicated. Tuesday’s announcement is the third time the Pentagon has updated the figures for the numbers injured.

The Pentagon and President Donald Trump had initially said no service members were injured or killed in the January 8 Iranian missile attack, which was retaliation for the January 2 US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general.

Last week Trump said he does not consider potential brain injuries to be as serious as physical combat wounds, downplaying the severity of the injuries suffered in Iraq.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump was asked to explain the discrepancy between his previous comments that no US service member was harmed in the January 8 Iranian missile attack on Al-Asad airbase in Iraq, and the latest reports of US troops being treated for injuries sustained in that attack.

“No, I heard that they had headaches, and a couple of other things, but I would say, and I can report, it’s not very serious,” Trump replied during a news conference.

An influential veterans group demanded Trump apologize for those comments.

“The VFW expects an apology from the President to our service men and women for his misguided remarks,” William “Doc” Schmitz, Veterans of Foreign Wars national commander, said in a statement Friday.

“And, we ask that he and the White House join with us in our efforts to educate Americans of the dangers TBI has on these heroes as they protect our great nation in these trying times. Our warriors require our full support more than ever in this challenging environment,” Schmitz added.

The most common form of TBIs in the military are mild TBIs, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

Source: CNN

10 Comments
  1. mijj says

    Trump: it only counts as an injury if the victim’s competence is reduced below Trump’s

  2. Séamus Ó Néill says

    If the news, trickling out of Afghanistan is correct and Iranian Quds forces were behind the downing of an American spy-plane with the CIA mastermind of the murder of Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and six others on board, then America should indeed be worried. That would mean that Iranian intelligence is exceptional and bang up to date and that it possesses the know how and military technology to strike the “empire” at will ! It will also be a wake-up call to the squatters in Palestine that their unrelenting reign of terror in the region is coming to an end and will receive retrospective payback in the not too distant future !

    1. Kilgore Trout says

      We can only hope it is so!

  3. Mikhail Garchenko says

    Take a look at this: https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/5602350.html
    It´s very interesting the last comment from “Comrade Rozhin”…
    “Maybe” in this last “accident” are the 30 victims missing according to IRGC count…
    Cretins.

  4. tom greg says

    They may be hushing up some fatalities as well.

  5. Garry Compton says

    Playing the victim again. They kill a million around Iraq , then cry about ” two week old ” concussions. Let’s give these guys PTSD money for life , a new Iranian War campaign medal and purple hearts, distributed to all – don’t forget to committ suicide when you get home. That will really show how great the Victim Card – works.

    1. Down to Earth Thinking says

      It is much simpler tha your thought.

  6. Down to Earth Thinking says

    Real casualties ? What a stupid joke this entire sham is. How amny fake purple hearts will be sisued to the pussies that claim any real injury ? Sorry I do not buy any of it at all on either side ! All just trying to get points for a specific purpose, Simple propagandistic junk one more time from PRAVDA/MSM the propaganda arm on both sides. .

  7. CHUCKMAN says

    They were warned ahead by Iraq, which had been warned by Iran.

    Clearly, the intention was no deaths of Americans.

    And they all took cover in American shelters of some kind.

    But anytime you have high explosives going off near people in enclosures, you have a formula for concussions.

    I fully expect the nature of their shelters contributed to the result.

    Maybe that’s why the reticence to talk about it.

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