An investigation by a non-profit group monitoring the war against the Islamic State reported that coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria are killing civilians at an alarming rate under President Trump, nearly surpassing casualty numbers accumulated during the entirety of the prior Obama administration.
As of mid-July, more than 2,200 civilians have died in coalition military actions since the Trump administration began, according to an investigation by Airwars, published in The Daily Beast.
The report noted that at least 2,300 civilians were likely killed during President Obama’s two-and-a-half year campaign against ISIS. But at a pace of 12 dead civilians a day, Trump’s Pentagon could surpass its predecessor’s grisly marks within just his first six months in office.
The Pentagon has, both under Obama and now under Trump, disputed Airwars’ findings. The government claims that only 603 civilians have died in coalition strikes against ISIS targets. It acknowledged, however, that the bulk of those deaths—40 percent—occurred under Trump’s watch.
Increasing civilian casualty numbers became apparent back in March, following a coalition airstrike in Mosul that killed more than 100 people. Later that month, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, told the House Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon has not loosened the rules of engagement since Trump took office.
Votel went on to claim civilian deaths were caused by ISIS tactics. “It is important to clearly recognize that the enemy does use human shields,” the General told lawmakers.
Another charitable explanation for the Trump administration’s brutalization of Iraqi and Syrian civilians is the current stage of war, with intense fighting moving to high population centers. Coalition forces in Iraq recently forced ISIS fighters out of Mosul in what was a bloody, yearlong campaign. Similar efforts are now underway in Syria against militants in the city of Raqqa—another ISIS stronghold.
The groundwork for higher civilian death rates was also laid by the Obama administration. Back in April of last year, it was reported that the Pentagon was relaxing the pre-approval requirements before engaging in a strike that was likely to cause civilian deaths.
“Before the change, there were some limited cases in which civilian casualties were allowed,” USA Today reported, according to administration officials. “Now, however, there are several targeting areas in which the probability of 10 civilian casualties are permitted.“
Airwars further documented how coalition tactics are leading to high civilian casualties.
In the most notorious case out of Mosul, where more than 100 civilians died, the US dropped a 500-pound bomb on a building where just two ISIS fighters were seen on the roof. In another instance, 11 members of an innocent family were killed after a coalition bomb targeted a solitary ISIS fighter standing on a roof a few houses down.
In 2015, when talking about the counter-ISIS campaign, then-candidate Trump vowed to “take out their families.”
