Letters from an American - Shirking Responsibility

Episode Date: July 21, 2026

July 20, 2026On July 17, an Iranian attack on a US base in Jordan killed two soldiers, and left one missing, 17 military personnel have been killed in the Iran War and the Pentagon says 427 have been wounded, Iran is inflicting damage, It appears to have weaponry and is attempting to make the costs to the US regional coalition greater than the security benefits, The Pentagon is not providing information about the progress of the Iran War, The US has struck bridges and energy infrastructure in Iran, The Houthis in Yemen are imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, If the Bab el-Mandeb strait is closed, the global oil supply will be further cut, and crude oil supplies in the US are at the lowest levels in 45 years, Trump’s speech was not aired live on CNN, ABC, or NBC, perhaps a sign of falling popularity, The administration is renewing aggressive immigration policies, arrests in July hit a record high, Democratic senators have demanded investigations of the shooting deaths in Houston and Biddeford, Maine, Trump has announced new tariffs on certain products from Canada, which would upend the economy if they take effect.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

July 20, 26. On Friday, an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed two soldiers and left one missing. Another service member died Friday in northern Iraq. This brings the number of military personnel killed in the Iran War to 17 since Trump launched strikes against the country on February 28th. The Pentagon's casualty reporting site says 427 U.S. service members, members have been wounded. On Saturday, Greg Jaffe, Julian E. Barnes, and Jonathan Swan of the New York Times reported that multiple officials told them that the attack in Jordan was the fourth in five days, and that the strikes had wounded dozens of military personnel and damaged several helicopters. The journalist sources told them that the strikes proved Iranian forces still have plenty of missiles and are

becoming more skilled at getting around U.S. air defense systems. The sources told the journalists that the first attack hit a base, injuring as many as five service members. The second hit a different base, damaging U.S. Black Hawk helicopters, and a third hit the same base where the soldiers would later be killed. In that first attack, about 20 military personnel were injured. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula, who helped to plan the air war in the 1991 Gulf War, explained that bases in Jordan give the U.S. broader reach across Syria, Iraq, and beyond. Friday's attack was an attack on the U.S. regional coalition and an attempt to make the political cost of hosting American forces greater than the security benefit.

Those sources who spoke to the New York Times reporters spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon declined to comment. Eric Schmidt of the New York Times noted that lack of information from the Pentagon today when he reported that in the week before the weekend's deaths, three Iranian strikes injured military personnel and damaged several helicopters, yet the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hagezeth did not disson. disclose the strikes, the casualties, or the damage to the American people, citing the need to keep information about operations secure. Schmidt noted that neither the White House nor the Pentagon

has outlined a military strategy since Trump announced that the Memorandum of Understanding that extended a ceasefire, the one he signed on June 17th, was no longer in force. In the nine days since then, both sides have increased strikes. Schmidt noted the Pentagon has not held a major briefing on the war since early May. Since then, the administration has not disclosed the depletion of crucial and expensive weapons through the Iran strikes, or how Iran has both retained and rebuilt its own missiles. In June, Jonah Kaplan and Michael Kaplan of CBS News reported that Hankseth's claim that almost 90% of service members injured had sustained only minor injuries gives a misleading picture of the extent of those injuries. A spokesperson for the Army explained that the Army

classifies a soldier as seriously injured or very seriously injured, only if they are at risk of dying from their wounds within 72 hours. Pentagon's spokesperson Sean Parnell responded to Schmidt's story by posting on social media that the Department of War rejects these baseless and malicious accusations of hiding injury numbers as outright lies from partisan hacks at the New York Times

who are desperate to smear America's military and its leadership. Claims of concealment are fabrications meant to further distress the American people in the wake of three service members killed in action. He continued, this is the most transparent Department of War in history.

And yet, the administration did not consult Congress about launching the war, as the Constitution requires, and has blown through the 60-day time limit for the use of the U.S. military to counter an imminent threat without getting congressional approval. Damian Pelletta of the Wall Street Journal today also asked questions about how the Iranians, who Trump said had very few missiles left back in June, are developing faster and more maneuverable missiles. Palletta noted that whether Iran is getting help from Russia or any other country remains an enormous question

that puts much more pressure on the White House to potentially confront Russia. When asked about the deaths of the three service members, Trump said, we feel very badly, but you know these great people, those great patriots were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything almost militarily. They've got very little left. We control the strait. They don't control anything. So we'll see what happens when we hit them

very hard again tonight. Over the last several days, the U.S. has struck Iranian bridges and energy infrastructure. According to Iran's health ministry, the recent U.S. attacks have killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 400. Today, the Houthis in Yemen, who are backed by Iran, announced they are imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, threatening the passage of oil through the Bob El Mendeb Strait. If the strait is closed, the global oil supply will take another 7% hit. The American Automobile Association said today that the average price, price for a gallon of gasoline is just over $4, up about 13 cents from last week.

Before the conflict, the price averaged $2.98 a gallon. Economist Paul Krugman noted today that the wholesale price of refined products, assuming two-thirds gasoline, one-third distilates, is most of the way back to its peak. Since this is what matters for inflation and demand, no relief in sight. before the midterms. Carl Kintanilla of CNBC reported today that crude oil supplies in the U.S. are the lowest they've been in 45 years. The expansion of the Iran War's scope, duration, and casualties did not keep Trump away from the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday.

After Spain won over Argentina, with a score of one to nothing, Trump joined, FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the field, apparently unconcerned about the dangers that he says require the construction of a fortified ballroom, to present medals to the Spanish players. The crowd resoundingly booed Trump, who then stood on stage with the celebrating players until Infantino jogged across the stage to lead him away. The Guardian captured a picture by Javier Garcia, taken of Infantino and Trump, standing aside. from the players. Gianni Infantino carefully explains to Donald Trump that he is not part of the Spanish national team. Trump appears to becoming less and less relevant to actual governance.

Last Thursday, Alex Gengitano, Megan Messerly, and Maya Ward of Politico reported that Republicans were scared shitless about what Trump might say in his prime time address, but it is perhaps more of a of the current political reality of Trump's falling popularity, that CNN, ABC, and NBC chose not to run the speech live. Matt Goertz of Media Matters noted that despite Trump's promise that his speech would deliver really, really big news, the Fox News channel largely ignored the event. Executives might not have wanted to get entangled in the election denialism that cost them close to $800 million after pushing claims of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election.

Foxhost turned instead to culture war issues, railing against DEI and perceived abuse of WNBA Indiana Fever Guard, Caitlin Clark, who is white, by black players. In line with that focus, the administration is reviewing its visible and aggressive immigration policies. For months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has not released data about arrests, but Immigration Enforcement Scholar Austin Coker noted that new records show arrests in early July hit 1,474 a day, a record high for the Trump administration. In the past months, ICE has recruited thousands of new agents. As Mon V. Singh and Fabiola Sinius of the Guardian note, many of these new agents did not have the requisite qualifications and were not properly vetted. Agents from ICE shot and killed two immigrants within a week earlier this month.

Lorenzo Salgado Arrallo, 52 in Houston, Texas on July 7th, and Juan Sebastian de Ron Guerrero, 25 in Bitterin. Mayne on July 13th. Neither man was the target of the operation in which he was killed. In Maine, Ashley Brulette identified her ex-husband, David Brulet, as the officer who shot Guerrero four times. She found out he was involved in the shooting when he called her to ask her not to tell reporters about his abuse during their marriage. Both she and another ex-wife had restraining orders against Brulette. Ashley Brulet told reporters that when her ex-husband told her at the end of last year that he had been hired as an ICE agent, I honestly thought that he was being delusional and I didn't believe it.

As an Army combat veteran and former security agent, Brulet would likely not have undergone in-person training to become an ICE agent, Christian Harsa of News Center Maine reported. A spokesperson for ICE, Lauren Biss, told Vanessa Romo and Alina Hartunian of NPR that Brulet had nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training. Today, Senator Angus King, an independent of Maine, and 38 Democratic senators, sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullen, demanding immediate, thorough, independent, and transparent investigations of the shooting deaths of Arroyo and Guerrero. As Isabel Oss of the Portland Press Herald reported, the letter noted that both former DHS Secretary Christy Noem and White House Immigration Advisor Tom Holman committed to making sure that agents are fitted with body cameras. and yet, agents involved in the recent shootings were not equipped with cameras, confirming that neither of these commitments were honored.

The senators noted that acting director of ICE, David Venturella, promised Congress that all field agents would be equipped with cameras by the end of July. We view this timeline not as a projection, but as a firm binding commitment to which we will hold this. department accountable, the Senators wrote. They also demanded that ICE agents wear labels, clearly identifying themselves as ICE agents. The senators asked Mullen to identify specifically how he intended to investigate the shootings, explain the vetting process for new recruits, including whether it considers records of domestic abuse before hiring, identify updates or reviews being made to ICE traffic stop policies, and explain what oversight, reporting measures, or public safety measures the agency is implementing. As if to demonstrate that he is still in charge,

Trump this afternoon announced new tariffs on certain products from Canada. The 50% tariffs would further upend the economy if they take effect in 30 days as scheduled. Trump has been complaining about the smoke from Canadian wildfires hurting U.S. air quality and has threatened to impose further tariffs on Canadian products because the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air. Canadians, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, noted that they sent firefighters rather than threats when conditions were reversed. from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead in Massachusetts.

Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.