Pentagon strongly refutes mainstream report, defends ‘finest warfighting force on Earth’
Following an accusatory article published in The New York Times, Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell rejected claims that the Department of War has been somehow hiding data regarding the injuries of U.S. soldiers.
by Summer Lane | July 20, 2026
The war against Iran has remained the top headline nearly every day since it began in late February, as competing outlets have scrambled to nab inside scoops on high-level military decisions and strategies from the White House.
Amid this media scramble, a report has emerged this week from The New York Times alleging that the Pentagon “withheld” dozens of U.S. military injuries amid the war with Iran.
This report was published following the U.S. Central Command’s sad revelation that at least three U.S. servicemembers were killed in action over the weekend: two casualties in Jordan and a third death in northern Iraq involving a controlled detonation linked to an unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian attack drone.
The NYT reported that three separate Iranian strikes against U.S. forces were allegedly carried out in the week leading up to the attack that killed U.S. Army soldiers in Jordan.
“Those attacks injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters,” NYT reporter Eric Schmitt wrote in his article.
He continued, “But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the casualties and damage they inflicted. The episode is the latest example during the Iran conflict of the tension between what the Pentagon says is the need for operational security and the government’s obligation to inform the public about the conduct of the war.”
However, Pentagon Spox Sean Parnell refuted the NYT’s report in a strongly worded statement.
“The Department of War rejects these baseless and malicious accusations of hiding injury numbers as outright lies from partisan hacks at the New York Times who are desperate to smear America’s military and its leadership,” Parnell wrote.
He said that such “claims of concealment are fabrications meant to further distress the American people in the wake of three service members killed in action.”
Parnell pointed out that U.S. military casualty information is publicly available on the Defense Casualty Analysis System. Injuries in the system include anything from training incidents to “sprained ankles,” he noted.
“Cherry-picking raw numbers without context paints a deliberately misleading and incomplete picture,” Parnell said.
According to the Defense Casualty Analysis System’s data, over 400 U.S. troops have sustained injuries in the campaign against Iran.
Parnell said that the War Department challenged the NYT reporter to “stop the smears against the finest warfighting force on Earth.”
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