"I recognize you are at CENTCOM and this is not your AOR, but can you speak to the process that you at least have at EUCOM for developing targets, what types of protections you have? Based on what I have heard from reporting, the data that was looked at was a decade old. That any person who can get satellite access to Google Maps today can see that this was a school."
"Over the course of my career as a fighter pilot, I have always done everything I can to avoid civilian harm, civilian casualties, and I will tell you I'm absolutely committed to that. I know the department is committed to that and that when tragedies like this happen, it causes us all to reflect and try to improve our processes."
"Every single time that at a tactical level I was going to release a weapon on a target, I was personally making an assessment as to whether there was any chance of civilian harm and, if there was, was that proportional to the military necessity of striking the target."
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand questioned General Alexus Grynkewich about a U.S. missile strike on a girls' school in Iran that resulted in approximately 170 child casualties. Gillibrand criticized the targeting process, noting that outdated data from a decade ago was used despite current satellite imagery from Google Maps clearly showing the building was a school. She pressed the general on what safeguards EUCOM employs to ensure targeting aligns with American values. Grynkewich responded by emphasizing his personal commitment to avoiding civilian harm throughout his career and described existing safeguards in the targeting system, including proportionality assessments at the tactical level. Gillibrand expressed concern that Secretary Hegseth may not share this commitment to civilian protection.
#military-targeting-procedures #civilian-casualties #congressional-oversight #us-military-accountability
Read at www.mediaite.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]