WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday will attend a ceremony for four U.S. service members killed in Iranian attacks in the Middle East, who will return to American soil in flag-draped caskets.
The ceremony, known as a “dignified transfer” of the bodies, comes amid growing frustration with Trump’s war against Iran.
The war has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $37.5 billion so far, has led to the deaths of 18 U.S. service members and injured more than 450 troops. It has killed thousands of Iranians.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about the war, which has caused global oil prices to rise and shows no signs of ending. Since the war started in February, Trump has offered differing objectives for the war.
The U.S. president will travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the ceremony.
U.S. presidents, vice presidents and dignitaries regularly attend the solemn transfer ceremonies at Dover – home of the largest U.S. military mortuary – during times of war or conflict that result in the deaths of U.S. troops.
The three U.S. service members killed when an Iranian missile hit their sleeping barracks at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday were First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad, 28, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19. All three were assigned to U.S. Army air defense brigades.
The fourth death, of Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, occurred on Sunday in a separate incident in Erbil, Iraq, during a controlled detonation of an attack drone.
The Pentagon said on Monday that 100 service members have been injured since July 7 and 96% have returned to duty.
Four in five Americans expect the U.S. war with Iran to drag on for an extended period, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted earlier this month. Some 37% of respondents approved of U.S. military strikes against Iran.
Trump’s approval rating has hovered near the lowest levels of his political career since the conflict began, with Republican strategists warning that rising living costs have neutralized the political benefits of his tax cuts.
Higher gas prices and cost of living concerns pose a political risk to Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections, in which it risks losing its House majority and possibly its control of the Senate.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Don Durfee and Michael Perry)
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