Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the military to make procedural changes to prevent civilian deaths.
The directive, which the Defense Department announced on Thursday, calls for the Department of Defense to establish a civilian protection center immediately, develop more standardized operational reporting for possible civilian harm, review how the military responds to civilian harm, and incorporate guidance for how civilian harm can occur from a full spectrum of armed conflict.
Austin’s memo also called for a group of defense officials to create a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan within 90 days.
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“We can and will improve upon efforts to protect civilians,” Austin said in a directive to top civilian and military officials. “The protection of innocent civilians in the conduct of our operations remains vital to the ultimate success of our operations, and as a significant strategic and moral imperative.”
The changes come after a series of newly reported civilian casualties that have thrust the military’s drone program into questions as to whether officials truly follow the safeguards in place to prevent civilian deaths.
In the final days of the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States launched a drone strike to prevent what it believed to be an imminent attack on U.S. troops who were evacuating thousands of people at risk under the new Taliban regime, though the Pentagon has since acknowledged that the target, aid worker Zemari Ahmadi, had no terrorist ties. He and nine other civilians died in the strike, including his family members.
Austin has signed off on an investigation that concluded there were no illegalities with the strike and it would result in no punishments.
Last November, the secretary also ordered an investigation into a March 18, 2019, strike that killed 80 people. Of those who died, CENTCOM could only confirm that among the dead were 16 fighters and four civilians. U.S. Army Forces Commander Gen. Michael Garrett has to submit the findings of his investigation roughly by the end of February.
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The strike was carried out by Talon Anvil, a top-secret American strike cell that launched tens of thousands of bombs and missiles against the Islamic State in Syria, even though the unit repeatedly ignored procedures dedicated to preventing civilian casualties, according to the New York Times.
More recently, CENTCOM reported that a strike in Syria targeting a senior al Qaeda “leader and planner” also could have killed civilians. CENTCOM is still investigating the results of the Dec. 3 strike.
Roughly a week ago, a group of 50 House and Senate Democrats wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to “review and overhaul” the military’s counterterrorism strategy, which they said should be centered on “human rights and the protection of civilians,” and asking that the administration “prioritize non-lethal tools to address conflict and fragility, and only use force when it is lawful and as a last resort.”
