Pentagon lowers count of Iran war dead and wounded, sparking questions and outrage

Pentagon lowers count of Iran war dead and wounded, sparking questions and outrage. The Pentagon's public-facing casualty database has not been updated in more than a day after its number of wounded and killed in the Iran war abruptly shifted. The discrepancy raises questions about whether the Pentagon's underlying systems for tracking casualties may have been impacted by the Trump administration's previous statements that Operation Epic Fury, which was used as the namesake for the Iran war, had ended in May. The U.S. airstrikes targeting Iran since that date are being 'referred to as overseas operations,' a U.S. official told ABC News, a vague description that would be an unconventional label for a war. The situation has sparked backlash from lawmakers. Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats on Thursday pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to explain the Pentagon's casualty reporting, demanding a 'full and accurate accounting' of every U.S. service member killed and wounded. 'The American people, Congress, service members, and their families are entitled to a full and accurate accounting of the human costs of war,' the letter led by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii read. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was 'outraged' to see the name of Sgt. Angel Rampersad removed from the database. 'The Trump administration does not get to revise the human cost of this war because it has become politically inconvenient,' she said.