Insisting that they are putting a “high priority” on the review of recent US airstrikes in western Mosul which killed hundreds of the civilians, the Pentagon insists that they have more than 700 video feeds related to airstrikes at the time which are all going to be gone over.
Evidence has been growing that US airstrikes have killed nearly 300 civilians recently, and the US is facing growing criticism from human rights groups for not taking care to protect civilians as their air war gets into increasingly densely populated parts of Mosul.
The Pentagon confirmed over the weekend that they had dropped bombs against the buildings that collapsed around the time of the bombing, which ended up with hundreds of civilians buried within, but still say that they aren’t sure the bombs directly led to civilian casualties.
The Iraqi military has been invading Mosul for nearly six months, and fighting in the Old City has been going arduously slow. US airstrikes have been sought to enable the Iraqi military, which was virtually stalled of weeks, to start making new progress.
Instead, the huge civilian toll of the air campaign has forced the Iraqi military into a total rethink of their current strategy in invading western Mosul, as they recognize that they can’t afford for their “liberation” to be seen by the locals as a bloodbath.
Throughout the Iraq and Syria air wars, NGOs have estimated some 3,000 civilian deaths in US-led coalition strikes, with the official US toll less than 10% of that, under 300, reflecting how often US “investigations” quietly sweep the tolls under the rug. In this case, however, the incidents are likely far too large for the Pentagon to just dismiss.
If there is the remotest sign of a silver lining to this horror cloud, it is that Nikki Haley will have to clam up about Russia’s and Syria’s supposed targeting of Syrian civilians.
Oopsie bombing civvies never stopped Samantha Power from going after the Russians, and they’ve been very meticulous about avoiding civilian casualties but not perfect.
If there is a silver lining, its that it still matters as a wrong thing to do, and not become so routine as to not be news when either side does it.
Being tit-for-tat diplomatic shame-fodder is a disservice to the dead, however. People need to understand how war is fought; its not like in the movies or a game. No war leader can guarantee no civilian casualties, especially against an opponent like the DAESH in an urban theatre.
“No war leader can guarantee no civilian casualties”
True. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re responsible for what you do.
Not a word on the page except mine on the simple fact that Trump has changed the rules of engagement. The idea was cautiously explord last night on MSNBC because it would be Trump responsible. But they were noncommital and cautious because it also has to be the US. (Nato?) (Canada?)
Just like Trump said he would!
We’ll have to revisit the drone strikes accusations against Obama every so often. Which were still killing civiliarns with drones but on a much different scale.
I’ve searched but can find no confirmation that rules of engagement were indeed changed. The last changes to ROE may have been made in the last days of the Obama administration, according to the Christian Science Monitor (March 25).
Trump was considering changes, but there is no indication these went through or would have mattered. Some of the Obama rules in question route airstrike calls through the White House, and proposed Trump changes returned responsibility to military and intelligence. However, this suggests strategic-level airstrikes as tactical airstrikes are very time-sensitive.
Sputnik News reported that IS locked people in the building and guarded it with explosives, but also that a munitions truck, or truck bomb, might have been hit and that blast collapsed the building, based on refugee reports. Retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski acknowledges that the U.S. military is in spin control trying to deflect blame.
A President would not normally call tactical-level airstrikes; its up to spotters and air cover. His job is to make sure everyone else is doing their job correctly including investigators of when things go wrong. Trump is arguably much more responsible for the failed Yemen raid. So, Trump’s direct role in this incident is unclear as this very much appears to be a tactical-level airstrike.
It should be pointed out, this is far less serious than the U.S. AC130U gunship raid on that MSF hospital in Kuduz (October 2016), where Obama got off with an apology and some reparations. The official report stated it was an accident, not a war crime. A smart bomb only goes off once; the gunship made several passes over 30 minutes while MSF staff contacted the U.S. military to call off the attack upon their already-known location as a hospital.
It appears the IS may have succeeded in stalling the Iraqi incursion into Mosul’s Old City with the deliberate use of human shields. They also do stuff like use tunnel bombs to demolish buildings. The Russians had to carefully demine Palmyra twice, to thwart mining and its standard procedure for Syrian soldiers to send in combat engineers to clear buildings of booby traps before occupying them.
With so little information coming out of Mosul, its kind of obvious worse things are happening. 200 people dead at once just more dramatic than 200+ people over a couple of weeks. Some Iraqi military figures have expressed dissatisfaction over the collateral damage in calling airstrikes to hit snipers, so this event may not be unusual save in the extent of casualties. Of course, the Iraqis are taking heavy casualties, so there’s a certain amount of self interest in their humanitarian concern.
The Russians would probably have deferred the airstrike and encouraged the SAAF to do the same. There’s also the the under reported and ever-worsening refugee crisis on the ground that endangers the living, that the Russia-Syria would probably have handled differently.
If I were a politician, judge, or cop, the accountability mechanisms become more lenient.
The Conservative Papers in 2013 produced a fascinating article, “Can a Sitting President Be Arrested?”, the answer being, no, not without “impeachment AND conviction of treason, bribery, high crimes or misdemeanors. This also hints to the fact that the president cannot be arrested until he has been convicted by the Senate.”
The Constitution does allow lawmakers a fair amount of freedom of conscience to make difficult decisions, the ability to determine wrong and punishment, and worst of all, to do nothing at all. The Political Question Doctrine acts as kind of a Constitutional loophole. Then there’s the growing trend to just make stuff up.
The level of Trump hate does make it more likely that Trump should be very concerned about personal liability and therefore might voluntarily exercise greater discretion.
As wartime atrocities mount, Trump could be very well held far more harshly to account than any President before him. It just won’t change anything; Trump only makes a good scapegoat.
Fast forward: the Pentagon has concluded its review and the pentagon did nothing wrong.
Looking at the big picture, this review is pretty pointless. There are hundreds of thousands of civilians in Mosul and Iraq/Iran/USA are intent on storming the city and clearing out ISIS (with good reason). Civilians are going to die by the thousands in this situation. If the US stopped flying sorties Iraq would still want to storm the city, perhaps after a long siege, and again thousands of civilians will die.
The real crime of the USA & Friends was aiding ISIS and other jihadi groups to take hold in Iraq/Syria to begin with. Stopping that policy is step #1 in ending this nightmare.
That which is pretty pointless is trying to avoid the obvious reason why this kind of big civilian kills are happening.
It’s Trump’s promise of it happening but not expressed in so many words. This is Trump’s change of the rules of engagement and even Raimondo is going to have to come to terms in some way with that truth.
Who can predict how Raimondo is going to try to spin this stuff?
My guess is that he will try to claim that Obama set the precendense in some novel way! Or how about: That’s ot what Trump meant! Or maybe, Mattis ordered it!
Be creative baldric!
Israel always investigates itself too and they’re amazingly always exonerated.
A. Human shields
B. Collateral damage
C. We’re the good guys
They would rather murder thousands of innocent civilians than lose 1 American soldier, because the Pentagram just don’t care about anyone but themselves. They determine what is good, and what is evil, you see.
They? You mean Obama? Oh wait, how could that be?
First reports: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/27/the-innocent-lives-lost-amid-trumps-war-on-terror/?utm_term=.57b04e0110f6