Sec. Austin: Pentagon ‘Must Work Harder’ to Prevent Civilian Casualties in Airstrikes

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that the Pentagon ”must work harder” to prevent civilian casualties stemming from airstrikes.

Austin told reporters on Wednesday that the Department of Defense is in the midst of two reviews that will look into how airstrikes it conducts harms civilians.

According to the Military Times, one of the reviews deals with an unpublicized strike in Syria that killed more than 70 people, including women and children. The other is broader and deals with the annual amount of civilian harm from these strikes and comes as an order from Congress’ 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

”The American people,” Austin said, ”deserve to know that we take this issue very seriously. And that we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right both in terms of how we execute missions on their behalf and how we talk about them afterwards. And I recognize that and I’m committed to doing this in full partnership with our military leaders.” – READ MORE