Trump says he doesn’t consider the brain injuries US troops sustained during Iran’s missile attack ‘very serious’
President Donald Trump, who initially claimed that "no Americans were harmed" in the Iranian missile attack on U.S. forces, told reporters Wednesday that recently reported injuries suffered by U.S. troops — at least a dozen of whom were treated for concussion symptoms and possible traumatic brain injuries — were "not that serious"
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President Donald Trump, who initially claimed that “no Americans were harmed” in the Iranian missile attack on U.S. forces, told reporters Wednesday that recently reported injuries suffered by U.S. troops — at least a dozen of whom were treated for concussion symptoms and possible traumatic brain injuries — were “not that serious.”
“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report that it's not very serious,” the president
told the press in Davos, Switzerland. “I don't consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I've seen.”
“I've seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops,” he continued. “I've seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, in that war.”
President Trump is asked about the Americans troops that were injured in the Iran missile attacks on bases in Iraq last week after previously saying that no Americans were injured. #WEF2020 https://t.co/88r3VMcJe9 pic.twitter.com/oxx0IdkZIP
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 22, 2020
The Iranian military launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. and coalition forces stationed at Al Asad Air Base and Irbil in Iraq on January 8 in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike a week earlier that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a senior Iranian commander who led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force.
While no one was killed in the attack, a number of U.S. troops were injured, despite early claims to the contrary from the administration.
“Several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” U.S. Central Command revealed on January 16.
“As a standard procedure,” CENTCOM said in its statement, “all personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury, and if deemed appropriate are transported to a higher level of care.
“In the days following the attack, out of an abundance of caution, some service members were transported from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, others were sent to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for follow-on screening.”
CENTCOM said in its statement that 11 service members had been transported out of Iraq for care.
The Washington Post
reported Tuesday that an unspecified number of additional service members were later taken out of Iraq for care following the Iranian attack.
“As medical treatment and evaluations in theater continue, additional service members have been identified as having potential injuries,” a U.S. military spokeswoman told the Post.
The spokeswoman, Army Maj. Beth Riordan, explained that it's possible the number of troops requiring medical evaluations and follow-on care could rise further. “Given the nature of injuries already noted, it is possible additional injuries may be identified in the future,” she explained.
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