Uncovering a Secret U.S. Airstrike in Syria
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 10 December 2021
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. conducted an airstrike in Baghuz, Syria, as part of its battle against the Islamic State. Two bombs were dropped killing dozens of people, as many as 80 according to U.S. Central Command, the majority of whom seem to have been civilians. But the American public had never heard of the strike until last month when a New York Times investigation revealed not only the fact of the strike, but also the troubling government response that led to its being concealed from public view for more than two years.
Natalie Orpett sat down with Dave Philipps, co-author of the Times article and a veteran national security reporter, and Luke Hartig, a fellow in New America's International Security Program and executive editor at Just Security. They talked about what we know and don't know about the incident itself, the legal and policy framework around airstrikes, allegations of war crimes, and what's been happening within the U.S. government in the years since the strike.
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Transcript
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| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:34.2 | What were the protocols that they followed before launching this strike? |
| 0:38.5 | I think that there are different protocols depending on how you code the strike. |
| 0:43.5 | And if something is an offensive strike to hit the enemy, there's many more safeguards |
| 0:48.8 | in place than if you say it's a defensive strike to protect allied ground troops. |
| 0:55.0 | And if they used a defensive strike, would a reasonable person think that it was necessary |
| 1:01.1 | based on the situation? |
| 1:02.7 | Because remember, these fighters had been corralled in this spot for a month. |
| 1:08.4 | They weren't going anywhere. |
| 1:10.1 | They certainly didn't have the capability to overrun the forces that were there. |
| 1:14.7 | And so I think that it would be revealing to see that information and understand more |
| 1:19.7 | about how and why the strike sale acted so that we can decide whether their decision |
| 1:25.7 | was reasonable. |
| 1:27.7 | I'm Natalie Orpet and this is the LawFair podcast December 10, 2021. |
| 1:33.4 | On March 18, 2019, the US conducted an air strike in Begu's Syria as part of its battle |
| 1:38.7 | against the Islamic State. |
| 1:40.6 | Two bombs were dropped, killing dozens of people, as many as 80, according to US Central |
| 1:44.8 | Command, the majority of whom seemed to have been civilians. |
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