Pentagon ‘Rejects’ Claim Trump Policies Have Triggered More Civilian Deaths in Islamic State Battles

WASHINGTON, DC – The Pentagon rejected the idea that there are more U.S.-caused civilian casualties in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) under the Trump administration than the previous one due to political reasons in statements made on Monday.

On Sunday, the Daily Beast published an Airwars investigation that said roughly eighty civilians died from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes under the Obama administration, whereas more than 360 civilians have died under the Trump administration.

“I would sort of reject the idea that there’s some political basis to it. We have had, in fact, two active military operations going on in two large cities – the two capitals of ISIS at the same time, Mosul and Raqqa, both of them in dense urban terrain,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis.

The fight for Mosul, ISIS’s capitol in Iraq, began in October 2016 under the Obama administration. It took about four months to liberate East Mosul, finishing just as the Trump administration took office.

The battle for West Mosul was expected to be far more complicated due to its older infrastructure, higher population, and willingness of ISIS fighters expected to take a stand for the symbolic city. The fight began in February and concluded about five months later, ending last week.

The fight for Raqqa began in June and is now in its 43rd day.

The Daily Beast noted that “the high civilian toll in part reflects the brutal final stages of the war, with the densely populated cities of Mosul and Raqqa under heavy assault by air and land.” But it said there are also “indications” that, under President Trump, protections for civilians may have been lessened.

“Whatever the explanation, more civilians are dying,” it said.

After Trump took over, the Pentagon implemented a strategy shift from allowing ISIS fighters to flee a city to other places in Iraq, to one of surrounding them and moving in. It also allowed for U.S. commanders closer to the ground to approve airstrikes. But officials said the rules of engagement have not changed.

“We have a goal of zero for civilian casualties,” Davis said. “And we apply vigorous standards to our targeting process, we take extraordinary efforts to protect non-combatants.”

Davis also pointed out that ISIS was deliberately putting civilians at risk by positioning their fighters near civilians and holding civilians in places against their will.

“They use our values against us in many cases… they’ve tried to draw us into striking things where civilians are located,” he said.

The Daily Beast said Airwars relied on local monitors such as Syrian Network for Human Rights, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as well as local Iraqi and Syrian media and social media sources.

The Pentagon said the reports should be “taken with a grain of salt.”

“We have a system in place where we look at each individual allegation, assess it for credibility,” Davis said.

“I think there are well-meaning people and organizations and reporters who will look at reports that they see on social media and ascribe truth to them without taking the time to cross-reference where we have struck – something which we announce every day – to see if those claims have veracity or not.”