US military officials are walking back claims that a drone strike Central Command (CENTCOM) launched on May 3 in northwest Syria killed a senior al-Qaeda leader after evidence emerged that a civilian was killed.
When the strike was first launched in Syria’s northwest Idlib province, reports immediately emerged that the strike killed a sheep herder with no ties to any militant groups. The Associated Press spoke with family members and neighbors of the victim, Lotfi Hassan Misto, who insisted he was innocent.
According to The Washington Post, Misto was a 56-year-old father of 10, and the paper spoke with terrorism experts who said it was unlikely he was affiliated with al-Qaeda.
“We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official,” an unnamed military official told the Post. Another official claimed the person they killed was al-Qaeda but offered no evidence. “Though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda,” the official said.
CENTCOM’s initial press release on the strike did not name the person they killed. Since then, the command has refused to share any details of the operation or say why they could have targeted the wrong person.
The US military is notorious for undercounting civilian casualties or lying about them. The Pentagon is also known for investigating itself and finding no wrongdoing, even in instances of significant civilian deaths, such as the August 2021 Kabul drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children.
Oops…
And, sadly, that is about it.
War crime – send the person responsible to the Hague.
The ICC hasn`t got the bottle to charge the yanks with war crimes .
they (ICC) charged Bush & Cheney with war crimes but uncle sam
does not recognize the authority of the ICC
The ICC did not charge Bush and Cheney with war crimes. The ICC opened an investigation into US war crimes, at which point the US threw a tantrum, sanctioned ICC justices, etc., and it never went any further.
my bad i was thinking of a book by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi.
but the US does not recognize the ICC authority
I remember that book. GWB fount guilty as charged of crimes against humanity.
Yes, and Russia has now indicted the ICC prosecutor for knowingly false allegations and abuse of process. Same thing, really.
Love the final paragraph, Dave! It’s a required daily reading along with my daily prayers. But that reminds me. Did I tell you how smart our bombs are? …What’s that? I did? Then, why do you keep asking about whom they killed? (Sarcasm alert)
The paragraph of the Week…!
And if the video of that Afghanistan slaughter of 10 humans hadn’t surfaced, Biden would still be calling it a “righteous strike”.
That is what I was talking about. Video showed children playing prior to the hit.
Bullshit. They know. They just won’t admit how terrible they are.
Just like the “righteous strike” that killed 10 in a family, including children. That became a “terrible mistake”.
America top of the war criminal list with Britain a close second .
Pentagon Admits It Doesn’t Know Who It Killed in Syria Drone Strike
“and not only that, we don’t care either!”
It goes without saying…but imagine the colossal media interest and confected outrage had Russia done this. When Washington does this regularly….Meh?
It knows. Coverup. It pretends not to know so it need not admit what it messed up (yet again).
The idiots at the Pentagon may claim not to know who they killed, but the people on the ground most certainly do – it was an innocent grandfather, making this American drone attack yet another act of cold blooded murder.
Thank goodness there are still those bare footed enemies on which the World’s Greatest Military Power can expend its fearsome might and experience that ole feel-good feeling of invincibility and power.
Cent-com-poops?…Perhaps, neo-con-poops?