Posted on 09/18/2026 7:07:17 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Officials who spoke with The Post expressed frustration that the additional loss of life in the Middle East is not reflected in the Defense Department’s casualty database.
More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data.
Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.
A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war. Not all of the undisclosed deaths are directly tied to the conflict but have involved U.S. personnel who were in the Middle East amid ongoing hostilities, this person said.
Additionally, the official said, three U.S. contractors who were based in the region have died since combat operations began.
As of Friday, the Pentagon’s DCAS database lists 18 U.S. military fatalities, including deaths caused by hostile and nonhostile action dating to the start of the Iran conflict.
Details surrounding the undisclosed deaths — including the service members’ identities, as well as when, how and where they died — remain unclear. Officials familiar with the higher casualty number expressed frustration that the additional loss of life is not reflected in the Pentagon’s public casualty portal.
The Pentagon declined to address questions about the accounting discrepancy.
The Iran war, which polls show is deeply unpopular with the American public, has become a political liability for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party ahead...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Compost has the sadz that they can’t dig up more deaths.
Non-hostile action? Oh. Right. Covid related deaths.
The WP editors would rather live as slaves to Iranian pirates than stand and fight for their freedom and liberty. They are worse than cowards, they are seditionists.
Eff the communist terrorists at the WaPo! Iran started the war 47 years ago.
WaPo is an enemy of the state.
The Post did act as a conduit for the Hezbollah-loving Khashoggi.
I think it has something to do with their relationship to Pierre Omidyar.
I wonder if this reporter Alex Horton is the same Alex Horton who popped up in the news back in the election year 2008:
U.S. Soldier’s Controversial Blog Receiving International Attention
kutv.com ^ | Jonny Glines
Posted on 4/16/2008, 9:20:25 AM by LJayne
A U.S. soldier’s controversial blog is receiving international attention for its alternative perspective on the war in Iraq. The blog’s creator, Alex Horton, has been both praised and accused of treason for his writing. Horton spoke with KUTV.com to explain why some people are angered at his sincerity.
(Excerpt) Read more at kutv.com ...
The blog has received huge publicity, both nationally and internationally. CNN featured Army of Dude in its “News to Me” segment twice. And the BBC has reported on the blog in one of its radio segments. ................... Hmmmmm? The usual suspects I see.
2 posted on 4/16/2008, 9:35:37 AM by Bringbackthedraft
CNN, BBC, the big boys lending a promotional hand.
Alex and Noah are connected in other articles with the infamous reporter Ellen Nakashima.
So is Tara Copp.
Here’s his bio ... he seems focused on J6 and Butler attempt ... and, interesting how he’s received THREE Pulitzers all in 2025 ... and, odd how it says he received a 2022 Pulitzer ... for coverage of the J6 ‘attack’. Is there another J6 (in 2022) that I’m not aware of?
Alex Horton
Washington, D.C.
National security reporter focused on the U.S. military. Send him secure tips on Signal at alexhorton.85
Alex Horton is a national security reporter for The Washington Post focused on the U.S. military. He has reported from around the world, including Ukraine’s front lines, Afghanistan and the Arctic.
He previously served in Iraq as an Army infantryman. Alex has shared three Pulitzer Prizes, most recently in 2025.
Honors and Awards: 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, awarded for team coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump; 2024 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, awarded for team coverage of the AR-15’s cultural impact;
2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, awarded for team coverage of the Jan 6. Capitol attack
So is Warren Strobel.
Looking like the Nakashima fan club here.
Has the Wash Po newsroom shrunk ?
What is she up to I wonder?
Maybe they are trying to be subtle since their associate Nakashima has a reputation as a key Russia hoaxer.
January 23: Another important criminal leak was given to Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller of the Washington Post, also based on criminal leaks. Their article, headlined “FBI reviewed Flynn’s calls with Russian ambassador but found nothing illicit,” was intended to make Flynn feel safe and put him at ease about the FBI stance on those calls the day before they planned to ambush him in an interview. The article was used to publicize false information when it said, “Although Flynn’s contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were listened to, Flynn himself is not the active target of an investigation, U.S. officials said.” In fact, emails prior to this date confirm Flynn was their prime target. This article was later cited by McCabe as the reason why they were justified in concealing from Flynn the real purpose of their interview. Flynn later asked McCabe if he knew how all the information about his phone calls had been made public and whether it had been leaked. Any potential response from McCabe to Flynn has been redacted from his own notes about the conversation.
January 24: Comey later admitted he broke every protocol to send agents to interview Flynn and try to catch him in a lie. FBI officials strategized how to keep Flynn from knowing he was a target of the investigation or asking for an attorney to represent him in the interview. The January 23 Washington Post article, which falsely stated that Flynn was not an FBI target, was key to that strategy. Though the interviewing agents said they could detect no “tells” indicating he lied, and he carefully phrased everything in the interview, he later was induced to plead guilty to lying in this interview. Ostensibly because White House officials downplayed the Kislyak phone calls, presumably in light of what Flynn had told them about the calls, Yates would go to the White House the next day and insinuate Flynn should probably be fired.
February 9: The strategy to get Flynn fired didn’t immediately work so another leak was deployed to Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post. That article, headline “National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say,” was sourced to people who happened to share senior FBI leadership’s views on the Logan Act. This article was also based on criminal leaks of top secret information of phone call intercepts and laid out the FBI’s case for why Flynn’s contacts with a foreign adversary were a problem. The fact that such phone calls are routine, not to mention Flynn’s case that improved relations with Russia in a world where China, North Korea, and Iran were posing increasing threats, never made it into these articles for context.
February 13: The operation finally succeeded in getting Flynn fired and rendering him unable to review the operations against the Trump campaign, Trump transition team, and Trump administration.
“. . .amid the Iran war. . .” Heart attacks, seizures, accidents, etc.? Let’s blame those also on PDJT and SOWH.
Same bunch was in on this story:
Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals
The Washington Post ^ | September 25, 2025 | Tara Copp, Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton, Ellen Nakashima, Noah Robertson
Posted on 9/25/2025, 4:53:23 PM by MinorityRepublican
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year.
The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. It was issued earlier this week, against the backdrop of a potential government shutdown, and as Hegseth’s overtly political moves have deepened a sense of distress among his opponents who fear that he is erasing the Defense Department’s status as a nonpartisan institution.
In a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell affirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but he offered no additional details. Parnell, a senior adviser to the defense secretary, voiced no security concerns about The Washington Post reporting on the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia.
It was not immediately clear whether the White House is involved with the meeting or if President Donald Trump also intends to be there. A spokesperson referred questions to the Pentagon.
There are about 800 generals and admirals spread across the United States and dozens of other countries and time zones. Hegseth’s order, people familiar with the matter said, applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, or their Navy equivalent, serving in command positions and their top enlisted advisers. Typically, each of these officers oversees hundreds or thousands of rank-and-file troops.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I remember for a time there were more ‘non-hostile’ US deaths in the Gulf War (1991) than attributed to hostilities.
Looks like locating the shot down Gunship in the gulf and Speicher’s remains finally flipped the count:
292 killed (147 killed by enemy action, 145 non-hostile deaths)
Same Alex Horton—VVAW/IVAW type who used to report for Stars and Stripes.
Tough making this case when many more service members die in training accidents each year.
Is it just me, or do American soldiers seem to want a piece of the action rather than being kept out of harm’s way?
“The number of American soldiers killed in the Iran War is almost as high as the number of Americans killed on 9/11”- Hasan Piker and the Washington Post
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