The investigation uncovered a U.S. military drone fire

Published: 19/12/2021 – 00:54

The U.S. military often puts it forward Drone attack A way to wage war ” Own “. With some”. Precise wins “, It engages fewer men directly in battle and ensures greater performance. New York Times, This Saturday.

Within the framework of the law on transparency in administrations, the American newspaper received reports of 1,300 civilian casualties from the Pentagon. At the end of more than five years of investigation, New York Times Are clear: ” The U.S. Air Force was marked by misguided intelligence, emergency and inaccurate missile strikes, and the deaths of thousands of civilians, many of them children. ⁇

Bad pictures, inadequate monitoring, misinterpretation of behavior …

In five years, the U.S. military has carried out more than 50,000 airstrikes In Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He acknowledged that there had been an accidental killing of 1,417 civilians in Syria since 2017 And Iraq. In Afghanistan, 188 civilians have been killed since 2018, according to official figures. Again, New York Times, Number of civilians approved by the Pentagon, who examined the reports and investigated the ground ” Significantly underestimated .

“Documents show that civilian deaths were often the cause. Confirmation pro 2, the tendency to make decisions based on what one thinks is possible. Those fleeing the scene of the bombing were identified as ISIS fighters, not rescuers. Simple bikers were supposed to move ” Training “, It is thus explained” Signature An immediate attack.

According to Pentagon records, only 4% of civilian casualties are misidentified. But the field was investigated Times They accounted for 17% of the incidents, and more importantly, they caused almost a third of civilian deaths and injuries. Cultural factors also weighed heavily. The U.S. military has ruled that there is. ” No civilians வீட்டில் In a house they saw one day during Ramadan, many families were sleeping during the day, during Lent, protecting themselves from the heat.

Poor quality images or insufficient monitoring time often contributed to deadly strikes. They also delayed investigative efforts. Of the 1,311 cases examined New York Times, Only 216 attempted ” Reliable By the U.S. military. Reports of civilian casualties were rejected because the videos did not show bodies in the rubble or they were not sufficient for conclusions.

“Transparency and impunity”

Promises of transparency in the days of Barack Obama, the first US president to support drone strikes to save the lives of American soldiers. ” Opacity and impunity », Adds daily. The New York Times The Pentagon and the U.S. military had to file several lawsuits against the Central Command (Centcom) to obtain these documents.

⁇ Not even a single statement concludes a mistake or disciplinary sanction “, American newspaper adds, reveals at trial” A company that accepts that co-damage is inevitable .

In the Daily’s column, Sentcom’s spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, ” Despite the best technology in the world, errors are caused by misinformation or misunderstanding of available information. […] We do everything we can to avoid harm. We are investigating all cases of trust. And we regret every loss of innocent lives. ⁇

(With AFP)