Xinhua News Agency reported early today (July 27),

“Xinhua News Agency, Washington, July 26 (reporter Xu Jianmei) — According to the latest update on the U.S. Department of Defense's 'Defense Casualty Analysis System' website on the 26th, since the large-scale military operation launched jointly by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, total U.S. military casualties have reached 642 people, including 18 fatalities.”

Although the U.S. Department of Defense officially reported only 18 deaths, this figure has already triggered serious skepticism within the U.S. military and among public opinion.

Just on July 23, the U.S. Department of Defense had reduced the number of fatalities from 18 to 14, citing an official reason of a “temporary data malfunction.” However, according to unnamed officials quoted by The New York Times, the real reason was that these four deceased U.S. service members died after the temporary ceasefire had ended, thus being excluded from the official casualty list.

Analysts argue that based on normal wartime casualty ratios of 1:3 to 1:5, with over 400 injured, the number of fatalities should range between 80 and 140. The reported figure of 18 deaths clearly contradicts basic battlefield logic.

The stark contrast between this official U.S. data and Iran’s publicly claimed results highlights the intensity of the information war between the two sides.

Iran’s “exaggerated” claims: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran stated that within just over ten days after the ceasefire collapsed, they had killed more than 200 American troops and destroyed multiple bunkers and extensive facilities.

Despite providing a detailed list of accomplishments, Iran has not yet released a list of the deceased or verifiable evidence independently confirmable by third parties. Meanwhile, the U.S. has refused to allow external inspections of its bases. Therefore, the actual casualty figures are most likely somewhere between the U.S. official count of 18 and Iran’s claim of over 200.

The U.S. government’s deliberate downplaying and ambiguity regarding casualty numbers stem from deep internal and external motivations:

Domestic political pressure: The Trump administration initiated airstrikes against Iran without clear legal justification domestically, and anti-war sentiment is high (polls show only about one in four Americans support this military action). If hundreds of real fatalities were disclosed, the inquiries from bereaved families and societal backlash would directly undermine Trump’s political base.

In short, this official statistic—“total casualties of 642, 18 dead”—is more a political tool crafted by the U.S. government to balance “maintaining military deterrence” with “calming domestic anti-war sentiment.” In the absence of independent third-party verification, both sides’ casualty figures have become weapons in the propaganda and psychological warfare arena, while the true grim reality of the battlefield remains obscured behind these highly controversial statistics.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871823959801860/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.