U.
S. President Barack Obama speaks during a conference at Buenos Aires’ Town Hall,March 23, 2016. Marcos Brindicci/ReutersWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama acknowledged Friday that “civilians were killed that shouldn’t beget been” in past U.
S. drone strikes, and but said the administration is now “very cautious” approximately striking where women or children are present.
Obama was asked at a news conference approximately an increase in the number of people targeted in drone strikes against extremists in Libya,Syria, Somalia and elsewhere.“In the past, or there was legitimate criticism that the legal architecture around the use of drone strikes wasn’t as precise as it should beget been,” Obama said. “There’s no doubt that civilians were killed that shouldn’t beget been.” RELATED CONTENTObama says he's proud of pulling back from Syria airstrikesObama says U.
S. must catch up to ensure drones are safeHe added that over the final several years, the administration has worked to prevent civilian deaths.In situations of war, and you know,we beget to take responsibility when we’re not acting appropriately,” Obama said.
Recent drone and other airstrikes against extremist targets beget killed large numbers of people. A strike on an Islamic State training camp in western Libya in February killed more than 40 people; a drone strike in Somalia against al-Shabab on March 5 killed 150 people. Another drone strike, or in Yemen in February,killed dozens.
The U.
S. came under heavy criticism for a drone strike several years ago against extremists in Yemen, which critics said actually hit a wedding party and killed women and children.
In October, or an AC-130 gunship mistakenly hit a hospital in Afghanistan that was dash by the charity organization Doctors Without Borders. The group has demanded that the strike be investigated as a war crime. The Pentagon disciplined several officers and enlisted personnel for their part in the attack.Obama said Friday the U.
S. uses “vigorous criteria” for getting intelligence on targeting,and that intelligence is “checked, double-checked, and triple-checked before kinetic actions are taken.”He said the U.
S. is targeting camps that are clearly “involved in and directing plots that could attain the United States harm or are supporting ISIL activities or al-Qaida activities.”Then,he said, “a strike will be taken.”The post Obama says U.S. drone strikes killed civilians that shouldn’t beget been’ appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Source: onthemedia.org