As ceasefire negotiations
faltered and U.S. casualties of the Iran war mounted, the Trump administration on July 7 attempted to rebrand the struggling war effort by announcing the
conclusion
of Operation Epic Fury.
But in the 12 weeks since, more U.S. military personnel have been injured and killed than in the 18 weeks of Epic Fury. Of the 880 U.S. troops left wounded or dead, 444 have occurred since July 7, according to the official Pentagon count.
President Donald Trump’s
war of choice
has left nearly 100 U.S. troops wounded or dead this month alone, according to the Pentagon. This includes 29 Navy sailors and eight Marines added last week to the official tally of those injured, following
claims by a top Iranian official
that an attack with a new “anti-ship missile” had “created hell for the Americans.”
The Marines were injured in a cruise missile attack on September 14, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity. The Marines were aboard an unidentified vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, they said, and potentially suffered brain trauma among other injuries. The attack was first reported by
NBC News
.
A cargo ship was hit that same day by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organization. The officials would not say if Marines have been stationed on commercial vessels transiting the Strait.
The Navy did not answer The Intercept’s questions about when and where the sailors were wounded. A Navy official said that casualties had been “fully validated” but would not name the affected “units.”
This latest in a
series
of
casualty spikes
comes as
additional details
of the
toll of Iranian attacks
on U.S. troops become more apparent. Air Force personnel, alone, endured more than 1,200 “
alarm reds
” — the official code for imminent attack by missiles, aircraft, or ground forces — during just 38 days earlier this year,
according
to Air Force c
… [more]
