US casualties raise stakes for Trump
Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC Travelling with the president
In his speech announcing the start of Operation Epic Fury against Iran early on Saturday, Donald Trump clearly laid out the prospect that US service members may fall in the days and weeks ahead.
"That often happens in war," he added.
Now, US Central Command has confirmed that three US service members have been killed and five seriously wounded.
As far as wars go, these casualties are still light. Military experts I've spoken to said they believe that combat casualties were to be expected, alongside non-combat deaths from the inherent risks of moving massive amounts of personnel and materiel across the world.
But for Trump, each American casualty raises the stakes domestically - where he is keen to juxtapose quick, successful and relatively clean military actions with the drawn-out conflicts of the Global War on Terror, which saw a steady trickle of US casualties in the headlines.
In the coming days, we are likely to hear that case be repeatedly made by President Trump and other administration officials.