Pentagon probe finds US not guilty for strike that killed 64 civilians

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According to an official Pentagon inquiry, a 2019 attack in Syria that killed up to 64 civilians "did not breach US rules of engagement or the law of war," and was not carried out with "wanton disregard." Some military commanders regarded the episode, which the Pentagon still claims was essential to eliminate ISIS members, to be a war crime.

Thousands of civilians, including children, have been murdered by US airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, according to The New York Times, which were carried out with imprecise targeting and "deeply flawed intelligence."

In August 2021, the US killed 10 Afghan civilians, including 7 children, in an airstrike supposedly intended to target ISIS. After an internal investigation into the raid, the Pentagon's Lieutenant General Sami D. Said claimed the investigation did not reveal any violation of the laws of war.

Read more: US not to punish troops over deadly Kabul airstrike

 

The strike in Syria

According to a New York Times investigation published last November, on March 18, 2019, a US F-15E fighter jet dropped a bomb on “a large crowd of women and children huddled against a riverbank” near the Syrian town of Baghuz, and then continued to drop many more, killing survivors.

Only 16 of the 80 persons killed in the operation were putative ISIS militants, according to US Central Command. The military confessed to murdering four civilians but argued that the other 60 were terrorists since “women and children in the Islamic State sometimes took up arms.”

According to a report last week, the probe found that "No Rules of Engagement (ROE) or Law of War (LOW) violations occurred," and claiming that the US commander responsible "attempted" to distinguish civilians from militants. 

Despite the many civilian deaths, the US found the military "took steps to mitigate harm."

According to the first New York Times account, military officials witnessing the hit through a drone video were appalled and wondered if they had just witnessed a war crime. Furthermore, the bomb site was flattened, and internal strike reports were  “delayed, sanitized and classified," according to the Times.

However, according to the Pentagon's newest investigation, there was no "malicious or wrongful intent" behind the delays in reporting the event, and no evidence was uncovered to imply that the military sought to "conceal decisions or actions.'

The complete results of the DOD study, including a final figure of civilian casualties, remain secret. Only a two-page summary was made available to the public.