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When The Washington Post reported in mid-September that the Pentagon had been intentionally undercounting the number of U.S. military personnel killed in the Iran war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had a familiar response: denial.
“This is DISGUSTING and FAKE. A complete LIE,” he posted to X, referring to the Post’s reporting. But weeks later, the department’s casualty count was revised up, from 18 to 21. Notably, this followed an episode over the summer, in which the death toll had been lowered from 18 to 14, before being raised again. The New York Times subsequently reported that the Pentagon had begun using a new method of tallying its soldiers who were killed or wounded in action. According to an unnamed U.S. official cited by The Intercept, this was “designed to obscure the count.”
The idea that officials would intentionally avoid disclosing the deaths of U.S. military personnel is surprising. Someone—the families of the deceased, or a whistleblower—would be bound to speak out or go to the press, which is of course what happened here. It is also possible that the undercount was simply due to a clerical error.