The Name
The Log of War is a play on the phrase fog of war — the deliberate confusion, misinformation, and competing narratives that belligerents use to obscure the truth during armed conflict. The logo shows a scribbled, crossed-out F with a bold red L inserted in its place: Fog becomes Log.
A log is a record — systematic, timestamped, and sourced. The purpose of this site is to cut through the fog by logging what was said, who said it, when they said it, and how credible they are likely to be.
Core Editorial Principle
Belligerents are not neutral sources.
All parties to this conflict — the United States, Israel, Iran, and their allies — have strong strategic incentives to shape the narrative. Their official statements are included as primary source material, but they are scored at 4.0 out of 10 and labelled as unverified claims. This applies symmetrically: a White House press release and an IRGC statement are scored identically.
This principle also extends to state-adjacent media. The BBC is the UK national broadcaster; the UK has provided material support, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic backing to the US-Israeli operation. This does not make the BBC a propaganda outlet — it remains editorially credible — but it creates a structural conflict of interest that is reflected in a modest score reduction and a bias flag.
Scoring Methodology
Each source is assigned a base score (1–10) based on its outlet type and editorial track record. Modifiers are then applied for specific circumstances. The final score for an event is the average of all its source scores, capped at 6.0 if only a single source has reported it.
| Modifier | Delta |
|---|---|
| Single source | Cap at 6.0 |
| First to report | +0.5 |
| Bias flag | −1.0 |
| Correction issued | −2.0 |
| Official belligerent type | −1.5 |
Source Tiers
Reuters, AP (Associated Press)
International wire agencies with no state funding, multi-bureau verification, and decades of editorial independence. The closest available proxy to neutral ground truth.
IranWire, HRANA (Human Rights Activists in Iran)
Non-partisan Iranian outlets focused on civilian casualties, human rights, and domestic dissent. No state funding. The only sources with systematic civilian death data. Scores reflect editorial independence, not political alignment.
Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Novara Media, The New Arab, Al-Monitor
Editorially independent outlets with strong Middle East coverage. Al Jazeera is Qatari state-funded but maintains editorial independence; scores reflect this nuance. Novara and Middle East Eye are UK-based independents with no state funding.
BBC, Sky News, The Guardian, CNN, NYT, NPR, France 24, Deutsche Welle
Editorially credible outlets operating in countries that are parties to this conflict (UK, US, France, Germany). The BBC is the UK national broadcaster; the UK has provided material support and intelligence sharing. NPR receives US government funding. These outlets are not propaganda, but their governments are belligerents — this creates an unavoidable structural conflict of interest that is reflected in a modest score reduction and a bias flag.
Iran International, Radio Farda (RFE/RL)
Independent Persian-language outlets operating outside Iran, critical of the Islamic Republic. Iran International is privately funded with no state backing. Radio Farda is funded by the US government (RFE/RL) — this is noted as a bias flag without a score penalty, as its journalism remains editorially independent.
White House, CENTCOM, IDF, US State Dept, IRNA, Press TV, Tasnim, Mehr News, ISNA
Official statements from warring parties. All belligerents — US, Israeli, and Iranian — are scored identically at 4.0. Their statements are included as primary source material but are treated as official claims requiring independent corroboration, not ground truth. A score of 4.0 means: "This is what they said. We do not know if it is true."
Limitations & Caveats
This site aggregates publicly available RSS feeds and does not conduct original reporting. All events are sourced from third-party outlets. The credibility scores are editorial judgements, not objective measurements — reasonable people may disagree with specific assignments.
Casualty figures are taken directly from source reports and are not independently verified. HRANA's figures are the most systematic available for civilian deaths, but they are also subject to the constraints of operating under a repressive government: some deaths may be unreported, misclassified, or delayed.
The DISPUTED badge indicates that sources from opposing sides have reported contradictory facts about the same event. It does not indicate which version is correct — only that the record is contested.
This site is not affiliated with any government, military, intelligence agency, or political organisation. It is an independent public interest project.
Support This Project
The Log of War is free and independent.
No advertising, no state funding, no sponsored content. If you find this useful, a small contribution keeps the feeds running, the servers on, and the editorial independence intact.
The Log of War — Newsletter
A twice-weekly digest of the five highest-scored events, with editorial notes on any DISPUTED or UNCONFIRMED items. No noise, no spin — just the record.