Pentagon Updates Iran Casualty Numbers, Splits Post-July 7 Toll Into New Category

The Pentagon added over 140 wounded to its Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) database for tracking casualties during the Iran war on Saturday, just days after it removed four deaths from its numbers.

Wounded Update: Several outlets reported that last week, the casualty numbers for Operation Epic Fury (OEFU) – a phase of the war that the Pentagon apparently now considers to be over – stood at 18 dead and 482 wounded. Over the weekend, the numbers were adjusted, with the OEFU numbers being lowered to 14 dead and 417 wounded. A new Overseas Operations (OO) category has been added that tracks casualties since July 7, the day President Trump formally notified Congress that the US had resumed military operations against Iran. For OO, as of July 25, the Pentagon reports that four have been killed and 207 wounded.

How The Media Covered It: The change was covered by several major outlets from the left on Sunday night. As of early Monday, AllSides did not find coverage from the center or right. The New York Times (Lean Left bias) described the new accounting method as "unusual."

Previous Change: Late last week, The New York Times was the first to report that the Pentagon had lowered the OEFU death toll from 18 to 14. According to The Times, "three military officials" said the Trump administration decided to remove the four casualties, which all occurred outside Iran, because they all came after President Trump declared a ceasefire. Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell denied the report and called it "one of the worst instances of the Fake News media manufacturing lies out of thin air for absolutely no reason at all but to cause distress among the American people." Parnell said the department explained to The Times that the "errors" in the database were due to a "temporary data disruption."

How The Media Covered It: Many mainstream outlets picked up The Times' reporting then. The Daily Caller (Right) highlighted this in a headline and said it asked The Times for proof that the death toll was previously reported to be 18, but did not hear back from the paper. Reason (Center) published a critical opinion where writer Joe Lancaster called the revision "troubling" and a "blatant attempt to cover up the administration's own war record." ZeroHedge (Lean Right) also highlighted criticisms in an analysis, including "scathing commentary" from Rolling Stone (Left), which said, "This kind of paradoxical, absurdist logic is core to the administration's messaging on the Iran war. We are at war, but not technically at war, because there is a ceasefire."

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