Donald Trump Dismisses Injuries From Iran Attack On U.S. Soldiers: ‘They Had Headaches’
Although no one was killed during the missile attack by Iran on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, the Pentagon revealed last week that at least 11 soldiers were injured in the attack. At least eight of them suffered concussion-like symptoms that were described as traumatic brain injuries. But on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump brushed off concerns about the injuries, saying the soldiers simply had “headaches.”
The president has repeatedly said that no one was injured in the attack, which was launched in retaliation for Trump’s order to kill Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani earlier this month. The Pentagon, however, has contradicted this, stating that 11 troops were injured in the attack, as HuffPost reports.
Of those injured, eight suffered head trauma and three needed behavioral health treatment. All were reportedly airlifted from the base. While a concussion isn’t typically treated as a life-threatening injury, it can be devastating and falls under the definition of a traumatic brain injury.
While Trump was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, CBS News reporter Weijia Jang asked the president about his claim that no one was injured during the strike.
“Initially, you said repeatedly to Americans that after Iran retaliated for the Soleimani strike no Americans were injured,” she asked. “We now know at least 11 U.S. servicemen were airlifted from Iraq. Can you explain the discrepancy?”
Trump pushed back on the claim that the troops had been seriously injured.
“No, I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things,” Trump said. “But I would say, and I can report, it is not very serious.”
When Jang continued to address the topic, asking whether or not the president considered brain injuries to be “traumatic,” he dismissed the suggestion, saying he didn’t think they were comparable to other injuries that he has seen, and told Jang to contact the Defense Department for more information.
“I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and no arms,” he said. “I can consider them to be really bad injuries.”
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Trump had initially announced that everything was fine after the attack, which took place on January 8. Shortly after, the Pentagon released a statement detailing that several service people had been injured in the attack but confirmed that no one was killed.
Initially, it was thought that Iran wasn’t attempting to kill any soldiers but merely make a show of force, but later reports suggest that the country was, in fact, aiming to kill.
