The Pentagon has announced plans to create a center next year to help prevent civilian casualties in military operations around the world by improving training and education and increasing pre-attack screening.
According to the Associated Press, the plan, which was ordered by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and released on Thursday, follows widespread criticism of a US airstrike in Kabul last August that killed 10 civilians, including children, in the final days of the war. The chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is taking place. Press.
A senior defense official said the development of the “new Center of Excellence for Civil Protection” and other improvements would cost “tens of millions of dollars” annually, and the larger-scale plan would involve adding about 150 employees.
The center will initially begin operations in fiscal year 2023, which begins Oct. 1, and will be fully staffed and operational by 2025. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under management rules to provide details of the plan.
The changes approved by Austin require updated policies and guidelines for military operations, contained in a 36-page action plan, and also include steps to better analyze threats, assess those in land and determine the impact of other civilian structures. .
One of the main criticisms of the drone strike in Afghanistan was that those who made the final decision too quickly concluded that a controlled white Toyota Corolla matched the information and confirmed their conclusion by bombing the wrong vehicle.
The Pentagon’s new plan aims to prevent such “confirmation bias” and involve more teams to challenge assumptions and ensure the attack is appropriate.
The plan will bring new personnel to combatant commands based in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific region, South America and the US Northern Command in Colorado, as well as at all high command headquarters and critical locations such as Special Operations Command, Cyber Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Source: Lebanon Debate
