Eleven US Troops Were Injured in Jan. 8 Iran Missile Strike

[Zippyjuan]

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2...strike/162502/

Seriously enough to send them out of the country to be treated.

The troops were medevaced this week to Germany and Kuwait to be treated for traumatic brain injury after experiencing concussion symptoms.

Nearly one dozen American troops were wounded in Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on Iraq’s al-Asad air base. This week, they were medically evacuated to U.S. military hospitals in Kuwait and Landstuhl, Germany, to be treated for traumatic brain injury and to undergo further evaluation, several U.S. defense and military officials have confirmed to Defense One.

Senior military and Trump administration officials had said on Jan. 8 that 11 Iranian missiles had caused “no casualties, no friendly casualties, whether they are U.S., coalition, contractor, et cetera.”

In the past week, news organizations that were granted access to the base to film the damage and interview military personnel have reported that no Americans were killed, wounded, or “seriously injured.” But the New York Times reported on Monday that some personnel had been treated for concussions.

In a Jan. 16 statement, a spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad said, “As previously stated, while no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed.”

More at link.

[Swordsmyth]

Probably just an abundance of caution.

[AngryCanadian]

Trump:All is well!
Trump:We getting out of Iraq and Syria.


.................

[Zippyjuan]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/polit...ago/index.html

Trump recounts minute-by-minute details of Soleimani strike to donors at Mar-a-Lago

President Trump recounted minute-by-minute details of the US strike that killed Iran's top military commander during remarks to high-dollar Republican donors gathered at his South Florida estate, according to audio obtained by CNN.

Trump, speaking at a GOP fundraising dinner Friday evening, offered new details about the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which exacerbated tensions in the region and led to an ongoing dispute with Congress over his constitutional ability to wage war.

In his speech — held inside the gilded ballroom on his Mar-a-Lago property — he claimed that Soleimani was "saying bad things about our country" before the strike, which led to his decision to authorize his killing.

"How much of this $#@! do we have to listen to?" Trump asked. "How much are we going to listen to?"

Trump did not describe an "imminent threat" that led to his decision to kill Soleimani, the justification used by administration officials in the aftermath of the attack.

Instead, he described Soleimani as a "noted terrorist" who "was down on our list" and "was supposed to be in his country" before traveling to other nations in the region.

Trump described in detail watching remotely as Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport, where he was met by Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of Kata'ib Hezbollah.

Trump claimed erroneously that Soleimani was meeting "the head of Hezbollah" (the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group is separate from group led by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis).

And he claimed the strike he authorized took out "two for the price of one."

He went on to recount listening to military officials as they watched the strike from "cameras that are miles in the sky."

"They're together sir," Trump recalled the military officials saying. "Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion. '2 minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in the car, they're in an armored vehicle. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. 30 seconds. 10, 9, 8 ...' "

"Then all of a sudden, boom," he went on. "'They're gone, sir. Cutting off.' "

"I said, where is this guy?" Trump continued. "That was the last I heard from him."

Trump's detailed recounting of the strike goes further than what he or other officials have said about the evening in early January that took out Iran's top military and intelligence commander. The strike led to increased tensions in the region and fears the US and Iran could go to war.

Trump acknowledged the outcome Friday, saying the strike "shook up the world."

"He was supposed to be invincible," Trump said of Soleimani.

In his remarks, Trump also repeated claims that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died "screaming" following a US raid on his compound.

"He was screaming, going crazy," Trump said. Other US officials have declined to provide further details of al-Baghdadi's final minutes.

And Trump joked the Belgian Malinois dog that assisted in the Baghdadi raid "got more credit than I did" for the killing.

"The dog Conan became very famous," Trump said.

[Swordsmyth]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/polit...ago/index.html

If he had discussed the imminent threat they would criticize him for talking about classified information.
And the Iraqi was head of a group called Hezbollah:

Muhandis was important because for years he helped build up not only his own armed militia, Kataib Hezbollah

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Wh...leimani-613268

[Pauls' Revere]

If he had discussed the imminent threat they would criticize him for talking about classified information.
And the Iraqi was head of a group called Hezbollah:

The realization that the left criticized him for not going full hard on against Iran is proof.

and....that they so quickly shut down that rhetoric is telling.

[Zippyjuan]

If he had discussed the imminent threat they would criticize him for talking about classified information.
And the Iraqi was head of a group called Hezbollah:

The intelligence is so secret, he could not even tell his own Secretary of Defense apparently.

[enhanced_deficit]

This is anti-war leaning source, so should be read with some grains of salt:

Trump downplays brain injuries suffered by US troops in Iran missile strike

‘I heard they had headaches … but it’s not very serious,’ Trump said after 11 service members were treated for concussion symptoms

Donald Trump: ‘I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries I have seen. I’ve seen people with no legs and no arms.’ Photograph: Ayman Henna/AFP via Getty Images

Michael Safi
Published on Wed 22 Jan 2020

Donald Trump has downplayed the brain injuries suffered by US personnel in Iran’s missile attacks on bases where they were stationed earlier this month, as the military announced additional troops were being flown from Iraq for treatment for possible injuries and that more may follow.

Though the US president initially said no US troops were harmed in the 8 January attack on two Iraqi bases housing them, the Pentagon announced last week that 11 service members had been flown to medical hospitals in Germany and Kuwait to be “treated for concussion symptoms from the blast”.

Asked about the discrepancy on Wednesday, Trump said he learned about the injuries “numerous days later”.

“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report it is not very serious,” he told a news conference in Davos, Switzerland. “I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries I have seen. I’ve seen people with no legs and no arms.”
US officials separately announced on Wednesday that several more troops had been “identified as having potential injuries” and were being transported to Germany for further diagnosis and treatment.

theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/22/trump-downplays-brain-injuries-concussion-us-troops-iran-missile-strike

[Zippyjuan]

"It's just a headache!".

The total treated is now up to 34.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51243888

Iran raid left '34 US troops with traumatic brain injuries'

The Pentagon has said that 34 US troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) following an Iranian attack on their base in Iraq.

Seventeen troops are still under medical observation, a spokesman said.

President Donald Trump had said no Americans were injured in the 8 January strike, which came in retaliation for the US killing of an Iranian general.

Mr Trump had cited the supposed lack of injuries in his decision not to strike back against Iran.

But last week, the Pentagon said 11 service members had been treated for concussion symptoms from the attack.

Asked about the apparent discrepancy this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Trump said: "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."

The Pentagon has said no Americans were killed in the Iranian missile strike on the Ain al-Asad base, with most sheltering in bunkers as missiles rained down.