Gizem Nisa Cebi
02 October 2024•Update: 02 October 2024
ISTANBUL
Former US President Donald Trump again downplayed concussions and traumatic brain injuries sustained by US troops during a 2020 Iranian missile strike, dismissing them as minor.
"So first of all, injured. What does injured mean? Injured means – You mean because they had a headache? The bombs never hit the fort," Trump said during a campaign stop in Milwaukee, a city in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin, when asked about his administration's response to the attack, which took place when he was still president.
He went on to claim that the missiles had only caused noise-related injuries, according to a report by The Hill.
The missile strike on an Iraqi base, where US forces were stationed, was retaliation for the US drone strike the same month that killed Qasem Soleimani, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Over 100 US service members suffered concussions and traumatic brain injuries from the attack, according to the US Defense Department.
Despite the injuries, Trump said in Milwaukee – repeating a stance he took while in office – "There was nobody hurt other than the sound was loud."
Following his mischaracterization in January 2020, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the oldest major US veterans group, criticized Trump, with its head, William "Doc" Schmitz, saying the group "expects an apology from the president to our servicemen and women for his misguided remarks."
Trump has a long history of making remarks both in public and private of downplaying the sacrifices US soldiers made, from declaring the late Senator John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 5 1/2 years, a “loser,” to saying the US military’s Medal of Honor is an inferior commendation, as many of the soldiers who get it are “in very bad shape, because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.”
At the campaign stop Trump also claimed that “there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq" than he was.
"When you say not tough, they had no money. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. And when we hit them, they hit us."
He also pointed to his administration's 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the re-imposition of sanctions, contrasting it with the Biden administration's handling of Tehran.
Analysts have blamed the US withdrawal from the deal, which made Iran subject to inspections, for allowing Tehran to reenergize its nuclear program.
Trump also used the opportunity to criticize President Joe Biden's foreign policy in light of recent Iranian missile strikes on Israel, seeking to position himself as the stronger leader on international issues.
