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Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III gave his archetypal nationalist comments astir a U.S. onslaught successful 2019 that killed dozens of women and children successful Syria, though helium offered fewer specifics.
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U.S. ‘Must Work Harder’ to Prevent Civilian Casualties, Austin Says
In his archetypal nationalist remarks astir a 2019 U.S. airstrike successful Syria that killed dozens of women and children, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said the U.S. subject needed to bash much to forestall civilian casualties, but did not marque circumstantial commitments connected accountability.
“We bash enactment precise hard to debar causing harm to civilians. Every, each civilian casualty is simply a tragedy. But I would besides accidental that I person nary uncertainty that we tin enactment harder, and I’d spell beyond that and say, we indispensable enactment harder. I’m committed to adjusting our policies and our procedures to marque definite that we improve, and I’ll beryllium holding each our elder leaders liable for putting those policies and procedures into effect arsenic we spell forward. We instrumentality each onslaught precise serious, Eric, and I deliberation again, it’s incumbent upon america to look astatine our procedures and our policies to marque definite that we proceed to refine them and wherever we see, where, you know, we’re not doing things arsenic good arsenic we could, we should, we should adjust.” Reporter: “To what grade are you personally committed to holding radical accountable present for these benignant of actions?” “Well, I judge that leaders successful this section should beryllium held to relationship for precocious standards of behaviour and leadership, and that’s who we are. And I judge that our troops recognize that. And for my part, arsenic caput of defense, I person each intent to uphold that standard. Again, erstwhile we person a civilian casualty, we analyse that by modular procedure. And again, we’ll look astatine our policies and procedures, and marque definite that we’re arsenic choky arsenic imaginable going guardant here.”
Nov. 17, 2021Updated 6:27 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said connected Wednesday that the subject needed to bash much to forestall civilian casualties, his archetypal nationalist comments astir a U.S. airstrike successful Syria successful 2019 that killed dozens of women and children.
Mr. Austin had requested a briefing connected the onslaught aft a New York Times investigation implicit the weekend described allegations that apical officers and civilian officials had sought to conceal the casualties.
The defence caput promised to revamp subject procedures and clasp apical officers liable for civilian harm, but helium did not sermon immoderate systemic problems that allowed civilian casualties to persist connected battlefields successful Syria and Afghanistan. He besides did not accidental whether elder officers would beryllium held accountable.
“Every civilian casualty is tragic,” Mr. Austin told reporters astatine the Pentagon. “Where we spot we’re not doing things arsenic good arsenic we could, we should adjust.”
After his remarks, the House Armed Services Committee announced it would analyse the matter.
“Both the incidental and the efforts to screen it up are profoundly disturbing,” Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the president of the panel, said successful an email to The Times.
Mr. Austin, who became defence caput this year, received a classified briefing connected Tuesday astir the onslaught and the military’s handling of it from Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the caput of the military’s Central Command, which oversaw the aerial warfare successful Syria.
Aides said connected Wednesday that Mr. Austin was inactive digesting General McKenzie’s briefing, arsenic good arsenic recently submitted plans from apical commanders connected however to mitigate civilian casualties. Those steps were recommended successful a abstracted probe into a drone strike successful Kabul, Afghanistan, connected Aug. 29 that killed 10 civilians, including 7 children.
On Monday, John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s apical spokesman, declined to remark connected details of the Syria strike, which took spot adjacent the municipality of Baghuz connected March 18, 2019, arsenic portion of the last conflict against Islamic State fighters successful a remnant of a once-sprawling spiritual authorities crossed Iraq and Syria. It was 1 of the largest civilian-casualty episodes successful the yearslong warfare against ISIS, but the U.S. subject had ne'er publically acknowledged it.
A task unit investigated the onslaught and acknowledged that 4 civilians were killed, but it besides concluded that determination had been nary wrongdoing successful the unit. In October 2019, the task unit sent its findings to the subject office successful Baghdad, arsenic good arsenic to the Central Command office successful Tampa, Fla.
But the bid successful Baghdad failed to reappraisal and adjacent the inquiry, and Central Command did not travel up and punctual the Baghdad bid to bash so, Capt. Bill Urban, the Central Command spokesman, said connected Wednesday earlier Mr. Austin’s briefing.
As a result, elder subject officials successful Iraq and Florida ne'er reviewed the strike, and the probe technically remained unfastened until the Times investigation.
“Should we person followed up? Yes,” Captain Urban said successful a telephone interview, blaming “an administrative oversight.”
Several options are disposable to Mr. Austin. He could bid a caller probe into the strike, which was carried retired by a shadowy, classified peculiar operations portion called Task Force 9, arsenic good arsenic the handling of the task force’s probe by higher subject office and the Defense Department’s inspector general. He could besides endorse the task force’s findings and General McKenzie’s reappraisal of the strike.
The Times investigation showed that the decease toll from the onslaught — 80 radical — was astir instantly evident to subject officials. A ineligible serviceman flagged the bombing arsenic a imaginable warfare transgression that required an investigation. But astatine astir each step, the subject made moves that concealed the catastrophic strike. The Defense Department’s autarkic inspector wide began an inquiry, but the study containing its findings was stalled and stripped of immoderate notation of the strike.
In an email to the Senate Armed Services Committee this spring, the ineligible serviceman who witnessed the onslaught warned that “senior ranking U.S. subject officials intentionally and systematically circumvented the deliberate onslaught process,” and that determination was a bully accidental that “the highest levels of authorities remained unaware of what was happening connected the ground.”
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The Times investigation recovered that the bombing by Air Force F-15 onslaught jets had been called successful by Task Force 9, made up mostly of the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force. The task unit was successful complaint of crushed operations successful Syria. Military unit who spoke to The Times said the secretive task unit circumvented oversight by claiming that a immense bulk of its strikes required contiguous enactment to support allied troops from imminent threat. Often, subject officers said, nary specified menace was present.
Last week, aft The Times sent its findings to U.S. Central Command, the bid acknowledged the onslaught for the archetypal time. It said successful a connection that the 80 deaths were justified due to the fact that the task unit had launched a self-defense onslaught against a radical of fighters who were an imminent menace to allied forces connected the ground.
Central Command told The Times that the onslaught had included 3 guided bombs: a 500-pound weaponry that deed the archetypal radical and 2 2,000-pound bombs that targeted radical fleeing the archetypal blast. The bid corrected itself this week, saying each 3 bombs were 500-pound munitions.
The bid said the 3 strikes killed 16 fighters and 4 civilians. As for the different 60 radical killed, the connection said it was not wide that they were civilians, successful portion due to the fact that women and children successful the Islamic State sometimes took up arms.
Military experts said the command’s mentation deserved person scrutiny.
“It seems similar we’re inactive missing immoderate beauteous large details connected this strike,” said Luke Hartig, who worked connected drone onslaught argumentation for the Obama medication arsenic a elder manager for counterterrorism astatine the National Security Council.
“Either determination is simply a precise compelling mentation for wherefore this onslaught was legitimate,” helium said, “or we’re looking astatine 1 of the biggest mistakes successful the past 20 years of war.”
Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
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