Traumatic brain injuries from Iran strike in Iraq diagnosed as 'mild': US general

Mark Esper also defends Trump’s response to American troops saying he cared about service members

WASHINGTON: Service members suffering from traumatic brain injury following missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq earlier this month have all so far been diagnosed with mild cases, Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday.

“The diagnosis we have so far for all of the folks that had been diagnosed to date is ‘mild traumatic brain injury,’” said Milley at a press conference. “That’s the diagnosis that’s been reported to us so far.”

Earlier in the day, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper defended President Donald Trump’s response to American troops being diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from Iran’s missile strike, saying he cared about the service members.

34 US troops diagnosed with 'traumatic brain injury' after Iran strike

Last week, Trump appeared to play down the injuries, saying he “heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things,” prompting criticism from lawmakers and a US veterans group.

The Pentagon has said that 50 US service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and that number could rise.

“I’ve had the chance to speak with the president; he is very concerned about the health and welfare of all of our service members, particularly those who were involved in the operations in Iraq, and he understands the nature of these injuries,” Esper said during a news conference.