Hirono leads US senators in demanding a ‘full and accurate accounting’ of costs of Iran War

Hawaiʻi US Sen. Mazie Hirono led Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats in demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provide a full accounting of US military casualties from Operation Epic Fury, citing inconsistencies in the Pentagon’s public reporting on deaths and injuries in the Iran conflict.

In a letter sent this week to Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, Hirono and 11 other Democratic senators said the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System has reported figures that don’t match the department’s own public statements. The senators pointed to a July 20 statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell that nearly 100 service members had sustained injuries since July 7, even though the casualty system’s monthly report for July showed zero wounded in action. They also noted the system listed 14 service members killed as of July 20, despite widespread media reports of 18 deaths by that date.

“The American people, Congress, service members, and their families are entitled to a full and accurate accounting of the human costs of war,” the senators wrote, adding that the discrepancies “undermine confidence” that military families are getting complete information about the toll of the war.

The senators asked the Pentagon to respond by July 30 with a detailed casualty breakdown, an explanation for the reporting gaps, data on traumatic brain injuries, information on previously undisclosed attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan, and an assessment of the military’s readiness and ability to handle a mass casualty event in the region. In addition to Hirono, the letter was signed by Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Gary Peters of Michigan, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.