Newsmax – Admiral Vows to Investigate Civilian Deaths in Iran
Adm. Brad Cooper stressed that the United States does everything possible to avoid civilian deaths.
Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said a strike on an Iranian school that killed 175 people may have resulted from a U.S. airstrike. But he asserted that the strike led to the only civilian casualties of the 10-week war.
The New York Times said it has verified damage to 22 schools and 17 healthcare centers, while the Iranian Red Crescent Society, the country’s primary humanitarian relief organization, asserted last month that at least 763 schools and 316 medical sites had been damaged or destroyed in the war.
At least 1,700 Iranian civilians have been killed in the war, the Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
“How do you explain the publicly available information that 22 schools have been hit and multiple hospitals?” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asked at a recent hearing.
“There’s no way we can corroborate that,” Cooper replied. “No indication of that whatsoever.”
Cooper vowed the U.S. would release the result of the investigation into the strike at Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school.
Preliminary findings determined the strike was the result of a targeting mistake by the U.S. military; the intended target was an adjacent Iranian base, the Times reported.
Cooper acknowledged that his staff had not investigated any of the incidents published in the Times or by human rights groups, but stressed he was passionate about preventing civilian deaths.
The admiral noted the military had done what it could to warn Iranians about the potential for civilian deaths.
“Our staff specifically warned the Iranian people more than 100 times about the threat of them being used as human shields,” Cooper said. “I personally warned the Iranian people.”
Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told the Times the Pentagon would investigate any suspected civilian casualties.
The team focused on civilian casualties at Central Command has been reduced from 10 officers to one, Cooper said.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., implored Cooper to reinstate officers to a civilian harm mitigation team.
“If you were to find out that there was an error in the targeting process, would you reinstate some of those people that were removed from that team?” Kelly asked.
“Sir, it’s a hypothetical,” Cooper replied. “We’ll just see what the investigation says.”
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