A proposal to better minimise civilian fatalities and damage to civilian infrastructure during American attacks was revealed by the Pentagon on Thursday.
After the U.S. military received criticism for previous strikes, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin charged a working committee with coming up with a strategy in January.
Ten people, including seven children, were killed in an unsuccessful attack in Afghanistan in August, and more civilians were killed in a 2019 attack in Syria than the military first recognised, according to a New York Times investigation.
Austin wrote to top civilian leadership and military commanders on Thursday with an action plan that “the protection of civilians is a strategic priority as well as a moral necessity.”
According to Austin, “Our efforts to lessen and address civilian injury directly represent our beliefs and also directly contribute to the accomplishment of mission success.”
The Pentagon will establish a Civilian Protection Center of Excellence as part of the action plan to integrate research, lessons learned, and training across the military commands.
The centre is anticipated to be operational by the 2025 fiscal year and will have roughly 30 devoted employees.
The centre would feature subject matter specialists who will be a resource to commanders working through the planning phases of attacks as well as the after-action reports, according to a senior military official who briefed reporters on the idea.
The source said that moving forward, exercises, training, and education would place a greater priority on minimising civilian injury. The centre for excellence will be in charge of a large portion of it.
The Pentagon is also directed under the Civilian Damage Mitigation and Response Action Plan, as it is formally known, to designate positions specifically for civilian harm mitigation initiatives throughout the commands and military services.
There will initially be around 150 individuals working on this project, with the possibility of more if the Pentagon completes more manpower analysis.
The source said that one of the lessons learned by the task force that created the action plan was that too often, those in charge of minimising civilian injury were doing it as a side job.
This strategy aims to make sure that every aspect of the Pentagon is designed to minimise injury to civilians.