The last we'd heard, the number of U.S. servicemembers who'd been killed in Operation Epic Fury was up to six. That's fewer than were killed during President Joe Biden's disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
Back when the reported death toll was three, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei said that those deaths would shift the debate inside MAGA, and politics would be dominated for weeks with the question of whether the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei and his successors and the destruction of Iran's military capability.
🚨🚨3 US soldiers dead. This shifts the debate inside MAGA, Congress and America to: Is the killing the Iranian leader and degrading its capabilities worth three American lives? Puts a human face and reality on Trump’s war of choice…This ? will dominate politics for weeks.
— Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) March 1, 2026
No because the rest of us are adults and we understand what war is.
— Sean Spicier - Former Tango Dancer (Parody) (@sean_spicier) March 1, 2026
There’s Jim, repeating the New Democrat talking point like an obedient Mynah bird.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) March 2, 2026
Wishcasting again Jim.
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) March 1, 2026
Wait until you hear about all of the Americans Iran has murdered prior to yesterday. https://t.co/F3ISFMrRIf
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 1, 2026
Calm down.
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) March 1, 2026
When I want the inside scoop on the thinking of Trump’s supporters naturally I turn to Jim Vandehei
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) March 1, 2026
You tweeted this out like you had something.
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) March 1, 2026
You do realize that doing nothing has cost thousands of lives across the West, right? This isn't a cost neutral situation.
— Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn 🎗 (@SaraHirschhorn1) March 1, 2026
No it doesn’t shift anything.
— NolaMom 💜💛💜 (@pedsscrub) March 1, 2026
Let's ask the US Marines deployed as part of the peacekeeping operation in Beirut for comment.
— Coffee and Chocolate Games (@RealCoffeeChoco) March 2, 2026
I can not properly express the level of contempt I have for this post and the person that wrote it.
— WaltsGhost (@Walts_Ghost) March 1, 2026
It is exactly why we sign on the dotted line. That oath never stops even when we leave service.
— ElektraVBarron (@ElektraVBarron) March 1, 2026
I am sorry I am 47 damn years to late.
You are really hoping, aren’t you?
— Calmer than you are (@1100RS) March 1, 2026
Axios might try to keep these casualties in the media for weeks, but the debate inside MAGA has not shifted.
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Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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