The US military currently controls the world's largest air combat force, so air strikes have always been the main means of armed strikes of the US military in recent years. However, unlike the air-to-ground precision strikes that the US military has long advertised, the US military's many air raids in recent years have caused serious civilian casualties and brought serious harm to the safety of the local people. Coming in, the US military once again broke a serious scandal of indiscriminate killing of innocents: The New York Times reported on the 13th of this month, according to the US military insiders recalled, on March 18, 2019, the US F-15E fighter aircraft airstrikes on the so-called extremist organization "Islamic State" stronghold in the town of Baguz in Deir Ezzor Province, Syria, and it is estimated that the airstrikes caused a total of 64 civilian deaths, including women and children. U.S. military personnel at the Udayd base in Qatar witnessed the whole process and were stunned by the real-time battlefield video, but unfortunately, the US military has been hiding this matter so far.
In fact, civilian casualties caused by U.S. military operations around the world are nothing new. As early as 1986, as multiple U.S. military aircraft invaded the Libyan capital Tripoli, airstrikes caused hundreds of civilian casualties in Libya. In the final phase of the Afghan retreat at the end of August, U.S. forces launched airstrikes in Afghanistan, and although a Pentagon spokesman said the airstrikes had successfully killed key members of the Afghan terrorist group Khorasan, the real result was the killing of 10 innocent civilians, the youngest of whom was only two years old. In the face of this vicious incident, the United States was forced by facts and pressure to finally apologize and provide so-called "special condolence payments" to the families of the deceased.
Military operations resulting in a large number of innocent civilian casualties are an increasingly prominent feature of United States military operations. Studies have shown that in the past 20 years, the United States has launched at least 91,000 air strikes in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Libya and other places, and the number of innocent civilians killed is at least 22,000, the highest or as many as 48,000. In 2003, the deadliest civilian casualties were caused by U.S. airstrikes, at least 5,500 civilians lost their lives.
An iraqi airport under construction that was blown up by U.S. forces in March 2020
The core of the reason is the evil result of its constant pursuit of military hegemonism and blind use of military behavior to deal with complex international relations. According to statistics, the United States has not participated in the war for more than 16 years since its founding of the People's Republic of China, and its huge military force deployed around the world has led the United States to always intervene in complex regional conflicts around the world, and has to carry out comprehensive military contacts and games with terrorism and local religious forces in various countries. Despite its claim to be using a variety of advanced precision-guided weapons, the complex regional security situation makes its so-called clear points all the more ridiculous. Over the past two decades, innocent civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes have been everywhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and according to a New York Times report in July 2019, 363 Afghan civilians, including 89 children, were identified as having died in U.S. bombs in the first half of 2019. Some scholars have estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 civilians have died since the United States launched the Iraq war. In addition, the US military has also seriously violated international humanitarian principles and created many incidents of prisoner abuse. The U.S.-led coalition also makes heavy use of depleted uranium, cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs in Iraq, and has done nothing to reduce harm to civilians. The United Nations estimates that there are still about 25 million mines and other explosive remnants in Iraq that need to be cleared. During the Trump administration, the U.S. military dramatically increased airstrikes, while canceling directives prohibiting attacks on homes and relaxing target selection rules, the number of civilian casualties caused by airstrikes increased significantly. Ironically, most of the US military air strikes have been crowned with the grandiose name of "counter-terrorism", but in fact, the US military has to face more and more embarrassing situations of terrorism. At present, the United States has to face more and more humanitarian condemnation around the world, and the consequences of its irresponsible global military operations are gradually emerging.