Protection of civilians: Why they die in US strikes

Abstract

Read online The US military strike that devastated the MSF hospital in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan on 3 October generated profound, if short-lived, outrage in much of the world. The US government promised an investigation, and in late October appointed a military panel to do so. Yet its investigation is unlikely to address the more fundamental questions this attack raises: Why have the US-airstrikes repeatedly produced catastrophic cases of “collateral damage” in Afghanistan? How, if at all, can the civilian impact of such means and methods of warfare be reduced – not only in the continued conflict Afghanistan, but also in similar airstrikes in Iraq and Syria?