Only found procedural issues? The U.S. military mistakenly killed 10 civilians in Kabul without punishment

According to the New York Times, the Pentagon said on the 13th local time that the military personnel who previously participated in the drone attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, causing the death of 10 civilians, will not be punished in any way.

U.S. Central Command said on August 29 that U.S. drones carried out airstrikes on a car in Kabul that day, lifting the threat from the Afghan branch of the Islamic State to Kabul airports.

By September, the Pentagon acknowledged in a skeptical voice that the drone strike before U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan was a "tragic mistake." The attack killed several civilians, including seven children.

U.S. Defense Secretary Austin also issued a statement saying that the U.S. side apologized for the attack and would try to learn from the "terrible mistake." He has called for a re-examination of the relevant U.S. Central Command investigations to assess the completeness of the investigation information, the need and extent of accountability, and whether the crackdown authority and procedures need to be changed.

Austin handed over the final decisions on any relevant administrative actions, such as reprimands or demotions, to two senior commanders. He eventually approved their recommendation not to punish anyone.

Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the military's commander at Central Command. And Special Operations Command Commander Richard D. Clarke found no reason to punish any military personnel involved in the attack.

"What we're seeing here is a procedural failure, an execution in a procedural event, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership." Kirby told reporters.

The New York Times said that in the 20-year war with al-Qaida and the Islamic State, the U.S. military killed a large number of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. Although the U.S. military from time to time acknowledges responsibility for civilian casualties caused by erroneous air or ground attacks, in fact it rarely comes to a specific person responsible.

According to data released by the British research institute Air War, the civilian death toll caused by US air strikes has been at least 22,000 in the past 20 years.

Source: China News Network