Pentagon Rejects NYTimes 'Baseless and Malicious Accusations' of Hiding Injury Numbers As 'Outright Lies'
RC Maxwell
4–6 minutes
The Department of War on Monday forcefully rejected a New York Times report accusing the U.S. military of hiding the extent of injuries among service members in the war with Iran, calling the claims “baseless and malicious accusations of hiding injury numbers” and “outright lies from partisan hacks at the New York Times who are desperate to smear America’s military and its leadership.”
The statement from chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell directly addressed thinly-sourced allegations that the Pentagon was concealing casualty figures, particularly injuries. “Claims of concealment are fabrications meant to further distress the American people in the wake of three service members killed in action,” the Department of War said. “Disgusting behavior, even for the New York Times.”
This fiasco for the Times mirrors an establishment pattern of publishing mendaciously framed and anonymously sourced national security stories under the new Pentagon leadership to paint a picture of turmoil, cover-ups, or incompetence within the Department of War. From hyped-up controversies like “Signalgate” to breathless war-crimes allegations, legacy outlets have been caught inflating or distorting stories for clicks and partisan effect countless times.
The Pentagon has attempted to counter misinformation by using an aggressive rapid response strategy, which Parnell utilized to emphasize that casualty information is not hidden. “In fact, U.S. military casualty information is publicly available and regularly updated online on the Defense Casualty Analysis System for everyone, including the media, to review, " Parnell said. He added that military injury statistics are broad by design. “Injuries in the military encompass everything from minor sprained ankles during routine training to incidents entirely unrelated to combat operations. Cherry-picking raw numbers without context paints a deliberately misleading and incomplete picture.”
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https://redstate.com/rc-maxwell/2026/07/20/dow-rejects-nyts-baseless-and-malicious-accusations-of-hiding-injury-numbers-as-outright-lies-n2204526
