Update: Pentagon revised the # of wounded in Operation Epic Fury on DCAS database to 400 (vs. 415 yesterday)

• Army = 271
• Navy = 63
• Marines = 19
• Air Force = 47

Adjustment is to the # of *Air Force* wounded, down from 62 yesterday to 47 today. Other military branches remain unchanged.

NEW: # of U.S. troops wounded in action during Operation Epic Fury is now *415* per latest update from Pentagon's database of U.S. military casualties

• Army = 271
• Navy = 63
• Marines = 19
• Air Force = 62

Age group w/ the highest # wounded (130) is >35

dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/con...

Per WH, the U.S. delegation led by VP Vance includes officials from the NSC, State Department, + Pentagon who will "play a supportive role" in the Islamabad talks.

Witkoff + Kushner have faced criticism for choosing not to include nuclear experts in past Iran negotiations.

(Iran does.)

The U.S. and Israel are fighting the same war — but not always toward the same goals A month into the campaign against Iran, diverging goals on regime change, nuclear weapons and proxy forces are complicating both the military operation and any path to peace.

Apropos of nothing, re-upping my @ms.now piece from last week on the tension between diverging U.S.-Israeli goals in the war against Iran: www.ms.now/news/iran-wa...

Indeed, I misspoke — in the late hour, my brain accidentally scrambled “Weapons Systems Officer” and “U.S. service member.”

Thank you for watching!

If you work with / have a tip about the State Department, Pentagon, White House, intelligence community, federal government, or politics — reach out via Signal:

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NEW: The Pentagon has finally added Operation Epic Fury to its online database of U.S. military casualties

As of April 3, a total of 365 have been wounded in action:

• Army = 247
• Navy = 63
• Marine = 19
• Air Force = 36

Death toll remains at 13

dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/con...

Latest from @julesjester.bsky.social:

One crew member of the fighter jet downed over Iran has been rescued by U.S. forces, two U.S. officials tell MS NOW. The second crew member of the two-seat F-15E aircraft is still missing and has been declared “DUSTWUN,” or “Duty Status, Whereabouts Unknown.”

The Iran war’s central mystery: What is the U.S. actually trying to accomplish? Political and military officials have offered inconsistent explanations of Operation Epic Fury’s objectives. The nuclear question sits at the center of the divide.

Reminder from @julesjester.bsky.social ahead of Trump’s speech tonight: “...political and military officials have yet to coalesce around a single, coherent account of what military success looks like, what achieving it would require or how the war ends.” 👀

The U.S. and Israel are fighting the same war — but not always toward the same goals A month into the campaign against Iran, diverging goals on regime change, nuclear weapons and proxy forces are complicating both the military operation and any path to peace.

The United States and Israel are fighting the same war. They just don’t agree on what winning it looks like.

Read more from @julesjester.bsky.social

I pressed the White House for clarity on the discrepancy + an official sent 5 goals of Operation Epic Fury

Destroy the threats posed by:
•Iran’s ballistic missiles
•Iran’s missile industry
•Iran’s Navy
•armed proxies
•*the Iranian regime’s ability to possess a nuclear weapon*

GABBARD to House: "The President has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their Navy, the IRGC Navy."

(No mention of any military objectives re: Iran's nuclear program)

RATCLIFFE to Senate: "The defined goals are very clear: degrade + destroy the missile inventory + drone inventory, delay + degrade the military industrial base and factories that produce that, degrade + destroy the IRGC Navy."

(No mention of any military objectives re: nuclear)

CAINE hasn't once said the word 'nuclear' standing next to Hegseth:

"CENTCOM remains on plan to achieve our military objectives + remain unrelenting in our pursuit of Iranian missile capabilities, UAV capabilities; + their navy, + as the Secretary said, their industrial base," he said today

HEGSETH's consistent message across five Pentagon briefings in the past 20 days:

"One, destroy their missile stockpiles, their missile launchers + their defense industrial base missiles + their ability to make them

Two, destroy their navy

+ Three, permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever"

White House and Pentagon offer conflicting statements of the Iran war’s goals Political and military officials have offered inconsistent explanations of Operation Epic Fury’s objectives. The nuclear question sits at the center of the divide.

What are the U.S. military objectives in Iran? Depends on who you ask

Trump + Hegseth say destroying Iran's nuclear program IS a goal of the *military* operation

Military + intel officials (Caine Cooper Ratcliffe Gabbard) have avoided the word 'nuclear' entirely

@ms.now www.ms.now/news/trump-i...

Live updates: Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel testify before Senate as Iran war pushes on The U.S. intelligence chief and FBI director face questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Big live blog day at @ms.now

Follow our live updates on Tulsi Gabbard's testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee — coverage coming w/ @julesjester.bsky.social + @davidrohde.bsky.social

Iran war live updates: 6 U.S. service members killed in plane crash in Iraq, Hegseth says new supreme leader wounded Iran has denied that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was disfigured by strikes. As the U.S.-Israel war with Iran enters its 14th day, at least 2,000 people across the Middle East have been killed in the co...

Hegseth: “No quarter, no mercy for our enemies.”

from @julesjester.bsky.social: Orders or threats of “no quarter” — killing enemies who surrender or are rendered unable to fight — are considered violations of international law and listed as a war crime following WWII.
www.ms.now/liveblog/ira...

If you work with / have a tip about the State Department, Pentagon, White House, intelligence community, federal government, or politics — reach out via Signal:

signal.me#eu/N9fO9Jy6Z...

Tulsi Gabbard, once opposed to war with Iran, is silent as one explodes Formerly an outspoken opponent of war with Iran, the director of national intelligence has been conspicuously quiet as conflict engulfs the Middle East.

I covered Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, which centered on a singular message: No War With Iran.

Six years later, the Director of National Intelligence has been conspicuously quiet as Trump's war with Iran engulfs the Middle East.

@ms.now
www.ms.now/news/tulsi-g...

U.S., Iran make “significant progress” in Geneva, but strikes loom The latest talks follow President Donald Trump’s warnings that he would not hesitate to confront the country militarily over concerns about nuclear weapons.

What to know about today's talks between the U.S. & Iran, w/ Vaughn Hillyard + @julesjester.bsky.social for @ms.now:

How Trump undermined election assistance agency ahead of the midterms The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is supposed to help. Now, some worry about its influence.

The Trump admin's attacks on Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency — a federal agency that is supposed to help states w/ election security — could threaten the midterms, @julesjester.bsky.social writes:

w/ @julesjester.bsky.social for @ms.now

Trump diplomacy 2.0: A billionaire developer and a monarchy scramble longtime U.S. alliances Foreign diplomats say the president’s embrace of Steve Witkoff and the emir of Qatar is frustrating nations that have backed the U.S. for decades.

Trump diplomacy 2.0: Foreign diplomats say the president’s embrace of Steve Witkoff & the emir of Qatar is frustrating nations that have backed the U.S. for decades. w/Vaughn Hillyard @julesjester.bsky.social @ianjsherwood.bsky.social www.ms.now/news/trump-w...

Trump officials have repeatedly insisted the Maduro capture was a *law enforcement* operation, NOT a military one — Pentagon + CIA merely provided assistance to DOJ

So excluding Senate Judiciary leaders from its briefing w/ AG Bondi, Hegseth, Rubio, Caine & Ratcliffe really undercuts that argument.

Senate Judiciary leaders Grassley + Durbin issue a rare bipartisan statement slamming exclusion from briefing w/ Gang of 8, House+Senate Armed Services & Foreign Cmte leadership

“The administration’s refusal to acknowledge our Committee’s indisputable jurisdiction in this matter is unacceptable”

Here's what Trump and Zelenskyy said when they met at Mar-a-Lago Trump wouldn't commit to a deadline for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

No deadline but the ‘makings of a deal’: President Trump meets Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago @ms.now www.ms.now/news/trump-z...

Trump, Zelenskyy to meet Sunday amid positive signs for peace progress President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy are set to meet in Florida on Sunday to hammer out a peace deal proposal with Russia. The news comes after Russia launched a massive barrage of missil...

President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will meet in Florida Sunday to hammer out a peace deal with Russia. The news comes after Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles and drones at Kyiv. MS NOW Reporter @julesjester.bsky.social reports.

www.ms.now/weekends-wit...

4 key takeaways from the inspector general’s Signalgate report Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth transmitted secret military information in a group chat on his personal phone and declined to cooperate with investigators, according to an inspector general report.

4 key takeaways from the inspector general’s Signalgate report by @julesjester.bsky.social

(TL;DR: Not quite an "exoneration"...)

www.ms.now/news/4-key-t...