Thread by @jaketapper

34 US service members have been diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) resulting from Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq earlier this month, Pentagon spokesman Jonathon Hoffman said Friday, @rabrowne75 and @barbarastarrcnn report. 1/

2/ Status of service members:

8 service members were flown to the US from Germany for treatment;
9 are still being treated in Germany;
16 have been treated in Iraq and have returned to duty;
1 was treated in Kuwait and has returned to duty in Iraq.

Recall how president Trump referred to these injuries:

https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1219998739462545411?s=21

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1219998739462545411

4/ Traumatic Brain Injuries are not mere “headaches.” According to the @CDCgov “Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in the United States.”

cdc.gov/traumaticbrain…

5/ The Pentagon says “Traumatic brain injury is one of the invisible wounds of war and one of the signature injuries of troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

dod.defense.gov/News/Special-R…

6/ The most recent statistics suggest 413,858 US servicemembers have some form of TBI

dvbic.dcoe.mil/sites/default/…

7/ The ignorance about and stigma associated with TBI prompted GAO in 2017 to push the Pentagon to do more to make sure policies addressing the impact of TBI and PTSD on misconduct separations are consistent.

gao.gov/products/GAO-1…

8/ According to one study, more than one-third with a history of combat-related mild TBI -- mTBI -- "have depression, with increased risk of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completion."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

9/ "Adjusting for psychiatric comorbidities, veterans with a history of TBI are 1.55 times more likely to die from suicide" -- other conditions of mTBI in veterans include cognitive impairment, alcohol abuse, pain disorders, and unemployment.