New York: In the last days of the fight against the Islamic State group Syria, when members of the once fierce caliphate were besieged in a dirt field next to a city baguzu, a US military drone orbits high overhead, while hunting for military targets. But it saw that only a large crowd of women and children were standing on the bank of the river.
Without warning, a US F-15E attack jet stormed into the drone’s field of vision and dropped a nearly 227-kilogram bomb on the crowd, swallowing it in one blast. As the smoke cleared, some people fled in search of cover. Then a jet tracking them dropped a 907-LG bomb, then another, killing most of the survivors.
This was March 18, 2019. at the US Army’s busy Joint Air Operations Center al-udeed in the airport QueueAccording to an officer present there, the personnel in uniform were watching the live drone footage and watched in stunned disbelief.
“Who dropped it?” After a confused analyst typed on a secure chat system being used by drone surveillance, two people reviewing the chat logs were recalled. Another replied, “We just left 50 women and children.” An initial battle damage assessment quickly found that the death toll was actually around 70.
The Baguz strike was one of the largest civilian casualties of the war against IS, but it was never publicly acknowledged by the US military. Details show that the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the strike as a possible war crime that required investigation. But at almost every step, the army took steps that concealed the devastating attack. The death toll was underestimated. Reports were delayed, cleaned up and classified. US-led coalition forces fired a bulldozer at the blast site. And top leaders were not informed.
The Defense Department’s independent inspector general launched an investigation, but the report containing its findings was withheld and any mention of the strike was removed. “The leadership seemed so ready to bury it. No one wanted anything to do with it,” said jean tate, an appraiser who worked on the case for the Office of the Inspector General. Tate said he criticized the lack of action and was eventually fired from his job.
an inquiry by NYT The bombing was found to have been called by a classified US special operations unit, Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria. The task force functioned in such secrecy that at times it did not even inform its own military partners of its actions. In the case of the Baguz bombing, the US Air Force command in Qatar had no idea a strike was coming, said an officer serving in the command center. An Air Force lawyer determining the legality of the attacks informed them to his superiors, saying it was a possible war crime and the rules required a thorough, independent investigation. But a thorough, independent investigation never took place.
Last week, when the NYT sent its findings to US Central Command, which oversees air combat in Syria, the command acknowledged the strikes for the first time, saying 80 people were killed but the airstrikes were justified. It said the bombs killed 16 fighters and four civilians. With regard to the other 60 killed, the statement said it was unclear whether they were civilians, partly because women and children in IS sometimes took up arms.
The only assessment made immediately after the strike was by the same ground unit that had ordered the strike. It determined that the bombing was legitimate because it killed only a small number of civilians while targeting IS fighters, the command said. Therefore, there was no formal war crimes notification, criminal investigation or warrant of disciplinary action, stating that the other deaths were accidental.
Without warning, a US F-15E attack jet stormed into the drone’s field of vision and dropped a nearly 227-kilogram bomb on the crowd, swallowing it in one blast. As the smoke cleared, some people fled in search of cover. Then a jet tracking them dropped a 907-LG bomb, then another, killing most of the survivors.
This was March 18, 2019. at the US Army’s busy Joint Air Operations Center al-udeed in the airport QueueAccording to an officer present there, the personnel in uniform were watching the live drone footage and watched in stunned disbelief.
“Who dropped it?” After a confused analyst typed on a secure chat system being used by drone surveillance, two people reviewing the chat logs were recalled. Another replied, “We just left 50 women and children.” An initial battle damage assessment quickly found that the death toll was actually around 70.
The Baguz strike was one of the largest civilian casualties of the war against IS, but it was never publicly acknowledged by the US military. Details show that the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the strike as a possible war crime that required investigation. But at almost every step, the army took steps that concealed the devastating attack. The death toll was underestimated. Reports were delayed, cleaned up and classified. US-led coalition forces fired a bulldozer at the blast site. And top leaders were not informed.
The Defense Department’s independent inspector general launched an investigation, but the report containing its findings was withheld and any mention of the strike was removed. “The leadership seemed so ready to bury it. No one wanted anything to do with it,” said jean tate, an appraiser who worked on the case for the Office of the Inspector General. Tate said he criticized the lack of action and was eventually fired from his job.
an inquiry by NYT The bombing was found to have been called by a classified US special operations unit, Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria. The task force functioned in such secrecy that at times it did not even inform its own military partners of its actions. In the case of the Baguz bombing, the US Air Force command in Qatar had no idea a strike was coming, said an officer serving in the command center. An Air Force lawyer determining the legality of the attacks informed them to his superiors, saying it was a possible war crime and the rules required a thorough, independent investigation. But a thorough, independent investigation never took place.
Last week, when the NYT sent its findings to US Central Command, which oversees air combat in Syria, the command acknowledged the strikes for the first time, saying 80 people were killed but the airstrikes were justified. It said the bombs killed 16 fighters and four civilians. With regard to the other 60 killed, the statement said it was unclear whether they were civilians, partly because women and children in IS sometimes took up arms.
The only assessment made immediately after the strike was by the same ground unit that had ordered the strike. It determined that the bombing was legitimate because it killed only a small number of civilians while targeting IS fighters, the command said. Therefore, there was no formal war crimes notification, criminal investigation or warrant of disciplinary action, stating that the other deaths were accidental.
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