AOL – Centcom office focused on reducing civilian deaths cut from 10 employees to 1
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) head Adm. Brad Cooper confirmed Thursday that the office focused on civilian-harm reduction for the military arm was cut from 10 employees to one, a revelation that follows a deadly bombing of an Iranian school at the start of America’s war against Tehran.
Cooper, the top U.S. military leader in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the nine people were “playing a key role in helping us move from compliance to culture” when it comes to the Biden-era Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response action plan.
He said the nine are still focused on reducing civilian casualties but are now “integrated into other capacities,” insisting that “dozens, if not hundreds of people” are involved in the issue writ large.
Preliminary findings from an ongoing military investigation found that a Feb. 28 Tomahawk strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school building — which killed at least 175 people, most of them children, according to Iranian officials — was due to a targeting error by the U.S. military.
Centcom officers created target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, people briefed on the investigation told The New York Times in March.
Asked by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) how many civilians have been killed or injured over the course of the Iran war, Cooper declined to give an estimate, noting that the investigation into the school strike is still ongoing.
“The investigation on the one incident that we’ve had after more than 13,000 strikes is still underway,” he said. “We’ll certainly be transparent with that one when we can. This is a matter that I’m passionate about. I’d like to use the occasion to invite you, other members of the committee and your staffs to Tampa to take a look at what our targeting process looks like.”
The Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that at least 1,700 Iranian civilians have been killed in the war.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) asked Cooper about a New York Times report that 22 schools and multiple hospitals have been hit during the war.
“There’s no way we can corroborate that,” Cooper replied. “No indication of that whatsoever.”
A group of Senate Democrats last month pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about cuts to offices that limit risk to civilian casualties and their impact during America’s air campaign against Iran, currently on pause under a ceasefire.
In a letter led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the lawmakers referenced four incidents where the U.S. military was or may have been responsible for civilian harm inside Iran, including the Tomahawk missile strike on the girls elementary school; a ballistic missile strike on an elementary school and sports hall in Lamerd where at least 21 people were killed; and an attack on a major highway bridge near Tehran where a minimum of eight people were killed.
“We are concerned that these were all preventable tragedies. The high human toll of this war reflects the administration’s broader disregard for the strategic, legal, and moral imperative to minimize civilian harm,” the senators wrote.
The Hill asked President Trump about the Shajareh Tayyebeh school bombing last week.
“That’s under study,” Trump said. “We’ll give you a report when we have it.”
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