US troops in the Middle East are more exposed than official statements suggest, which is bad news for service members and for anyone trusting Pentagon casualty reports.

• Official US statements on how hard bases were hit are not trusted, after too many earlier claims turned out to be false.
• The wounded count keeps quietly rising, with dozens more injuries added late to a total already above 800.
• After the attacks, officials only said everyone was "accounted for" — wording that says nothing about who is alive, hurt, or dead.
• Special operations deaths are widely believed to go unreported, so the real toll may be higher than the public numbers.
• Troops were moved off known bases into civilian housing, meaning some strikes described as hitting civilian areas were aimed at US personnel.

Outlook: Pressure is building to pull these forces out, with retired officer Douglas Davis arguing they serve no purpose and are simply targets where they sit.