By Mohammadreza Farahzadi
“No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken, the dispersal of forces and an early warning system that worked very well,” said Donald Trump in response to Iran’s strong slap by launching missile attack on Ain al-Assad airbase. Regarding the leaked statistics on the casualties of U.S. troops from various sources, Trump has made contradictory remarks.
In his statement on the missile attacks carried out by Islamic Republic of Iran on January 8, Trump claimed that no American troops had been harmed or killed, and one factor that averted casualties was U.S. warning satellites.
Following the president’s comments on Jan. 8, a defense official said in a statement: “U.S. early warning systems detected the incoming ballistic missiles well in advance, providing U.S. and coalition forces adequate time to take appropriate force protection measures.”
The secrecy and lies by Trump and other members of his cabinet have been criticized as U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that he does not have any information when he was asked about the number of casualties in a press conference on January 23. The issue led Elizabeth Warren, a presidential candidate, use the word “casualties” about the Ain al-Assad incident, following Senator Chris Murphy’s sarcastic remark saying, “You do not get send to Germany for headaches”.
The warning system that Trump mentioned in his statement is SBIRS satellites equipped with infrared sensors, which are made by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the payloads by Northrop Grumman Corp.
The U.S. Air Force launched four SBIRS satellites in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. Two more are scheduled to be deployed in 2020 and 2021. Each satellite is estimated to cost $ 1.7 billion. The data from the satellites goes to a mission control station operated by the 460th Space Wing located at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. The wing is now part of the U.S. Space Force.
Now, the great scope of secrecy and lies about the “Ain al-Assad” incident has involved the U.S. Department for Veterans Affairs besides the senators to pursue the case. The main question by American public opinion from the White House is that how such a project that cost billions of dollars could not protect U.S. troops against Iranian missiles.
Maybe it was because of these criticisms that the U.S. president, following his controversial tweets, represent the new logo of the U.S. Space Force to justify his lies by claiming that the sixth branch of the U.S. military is successful in this regard.
The tweet, of course, was followed by humorous responses from social media users, with many referring to Trump’s role in the movie “Home Alone” and using the term of “president’s childish wishes” about him.
Accordingly, U.S. public opinion seems almost distrustful of Trump's remarks, and the process of gradual releasing of the number of casualties of U.S. troops indicates the failure of the U.S. military. The issue caused that Trump’s behavior in the Middle East be further criticized.
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