CNN:
Over 100 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries in the wake of the January 8 Iranian missile attack on the al Asad military base in Iraq, according to a US official with knowledge of the latest information.
That's an increase of at least 36 cases from the end of January when the Pentagon said
64 service members had been diagnosed with injuries.
The Pentagon and President Donald Trump
had initially said no service members were injured or killed in the Iranian missile attack, which was retaliation for the January 2 US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general.
Several Pentagon officials told CNN last month that the number of diagnosed cases is likely to continue to change. Approximately 200 people who were in the blast zone at the time of the attack have been screened for symptoms.
During a news conference at the Pentagon late last month, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said the increasing number of reported cases stems in part from the fact that the injuries, for the most part, fall into the category of "mild TBI" which takes time for symptoms to manifest.
"All of those people were screened and we have got a certain number and the number is growing, in this particular case TBI -- that manifests, it takes some time to manifest itself, it's not an immediate thing necessarily -- some cases it is, some cases it's not. So we continue to screen," Milley said. "Some of them have been evacuated to Europe, some have been evacuated back to the United States so there is a layered approach to this, we'll continue to do that with our medical professionals."
Last month, Trump said he does not consider potential brain injuries to be as serious as physical combat wounds, downplaying the severity of the injuries suffered in Iraq.
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Trump needs to address this issue and not just dismiss it as "they are having a little headache."