Pentagon documents reveal 'deeply flawed' US air wars in Middle East: Report

The newly found Pentagon documents have revealed that the United States air wars in the Middle Eastern region have been marked by “deeply flawed intelligence” which led to deaths of thousands of civilians including children, reported New York Times on Saturday. The paper said that a range of confidential documents covering over 1,300 reports of civilian fatalities undercuts the government’s portrayal of a war fought with precision bombs. It also said that the commitments for both transparency and accountability have constantly fallen short. 

In the first of a two-part series, the paper reported, “Not a single record provided includes a finding of wrongdoing or disciplinary action.” Several instances mentioned by NYT have been previously reported, but the paper also noted that its investigation revealed that the number of civilian deaths had been “drastically undercounted” by at least several hundred. 

The three cases mentioned in the report also include one that took place on 19 July 2016, when the US special forces bombed what they believed to be three Islamic State group staging areas in northern Syria. The preliminary reports stated that the bombing killed 85 fighters. However, NYT stated that the people left dead in the attack were 120 farmers as well as other villagers. Another example where the civil casualties were not accurately mentioned was November 2015 attack in Ramadi, Iraq. 

The November 2015 bombing by the US took place after a man was seen dragging “an unknown heavy object” into an Islamic State position. But, the so-called “object” was a child who died in the strike, the review later found. The report also said that poor or inadequate surveillance footage, in several instances, contributed to deadly targeting failures. 

Most recently, the US had to reverse its claim that a vehicle that was destroyed by a drone on a Kabul street in August of this year had contained bombs. The strike, which left 10 dead were later found to be a family including children. The report also said that many US attacks left victims with disabilities who required expensive treatment. But, it added that the financial compensation numbered fewer than a dozen. 

US Central Command said ‘mistakes do happen’

It is to note that when Captain Bill Urban, spokesperson for the US Central Command, was asked for a comment, he told NYT that “even with the best technology in the world, mistakes do happen, whether based on incomplete information or misinterpretation of the information available. And we try to learn from those mistakes.” Urban added, “We work diligently to avoid such harm. We investigate each credible instance. And we regret each loss of innocent life.”

IMAGE: AP