Defense Secretary Robert Gates apologizes for Afghan civilian casualties
Gates pledges additional steps by the U.S. to avoid errant bombings and to compensate families of the dead more quickly.
BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed "personal regrets" today for the deaths of Afghan civilians in airstrikes and ordered U.S. forces, in future, to immediately pay families of people mistakenly killed in any attack.
In a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, the capital, Gates vowed that the U.S. would take additional steps to avoid such mistakes.
"While no military has ever done more to prevent civilian casualties, it is clear we have to work even harder," Gates said after his meeting with Karzai. "You have my word that we will do everything in our power to find new ways and better ways of targeting our common enemies while protecting the good people of Afghanistan."
Pentagon officials said delays in apologizing for errant bombings and providing compensation were hurting the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan. The Taliban and other militants have tapped anger over civilian deaths and sought to portray the U.S. military as cavalier and careless.
"Too often in our pursuit of the truth, we lose valuable time and end up on the losing end of our battle with insurgents for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.
Gates accepted a proposal by the Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak to create a permanent Afghan-American investigation board that would look into serious allegations of errant attacks that cause civilian deaths.
U.S. has paid compensation to families mistakenly killed in attacks before. However, Gates ordered Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schlosser, commander of U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, to make sure those payments were made far more quickly. Speaking at Bagram Air Base, Gates said the U.S. would pay compensation and make amends for errant strikes ahead of a full investigation.
It remained unclear how generous the United States would be in practice. In the most controversial recent U.S. airstrikes in the village of Azizabad, U.S. officials initially said about seven civilians were killed; Afghan and U.N. investigators maintain that upward of 90 civilians were killed.
Had the new policy been in effect when that airstrike occurred, U.S. officials suggested they would have initially provided compensation only for the families of the seven they believed were mistakenly killed. If the Pentagon sticks to that more conservative approach, the move to speed compensation payments may do little to offset anger toward the U.S. and its ally, Karzai.
