Quite frankly, the hypocrisy and holier-than-thou attitude of the United States toward Israel is truly infuriating.
The Pentagon recently announced that last year, on May 3, 2023, they mistakenly killed a civilian. It was not just a misguided, errant bullet that killed him. The United States had tracked a 53-year-old shepherd in northern Syria with a highly sophisticated Predator Drone. And then they launched a Hellfire Missile that blew him to smithereens. The Hellfire, a guided smart bomb, is not very big, it’s about five feet long, but the cost is ginormous – about $150,000 per missile. The Predator Drone, however, is huge. It is 28 feet long and has a wingspan of between 48 and 66 feet.
Turns out, the United States tracked a simple shepherd named Lufti Hassan Masto thinking he was an al-Qaeda leader. They were wrong. A year later, after “a thorough investigation,” the Pentagon admitted its mistake.
High number of US-caused civilian deaths
Oops!
It was a very expensive mistake. Not just in monetary loss, but also perhaps more importantly, in credibility. It makes clear that the United States, too, makes mistakes. The United States, too, kills civilians in war. Of course, they do. The death of civilians is, unfortunately, a part of the cost of war. Good nations don’t target innocent civilians. Good nations, like Israel and the United States, try their best to minimize civilian casualties.
And yet, while at the same time that the United States is openly admitting their mistake – albeit a full year later, they are crucifying Israel (pun intended) for civilian deaths, crucifying Israel for what the Pentagon euphemistically terms “collateral damage.” The infuriating part is that the US admits that they do exactly what they are asking Israel not to do. A pure case of “do as I say, not as I do” military style.
And please, do not think for even one moment that the United States accidentally killed only one single civilian.
According to a piece published in the The Guardian on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, the United States is responsible for the killing of at least 22,000 civilians – perhaps as many as 48,000 since 9/11.
The subtitle of the piece is: “Figures based on reported number of US airstrikes highlight the human cost of the 20-year ‘war on terror.’”
Here are some examples:
On August 29, 2021, in Kabul, the US flubbed a drone strike killing 10 innocent people, including seven children who were fleeing the capital. The Pentagon took months to admit the mistake, insisting that the car was loaded with terrorists and weapons, which was the reason for the huge explosion. In the end, the car was actually carrying a family of one of the US helpers in Afghanistan. The United States mistakenly killed him and his family. Months later, on November 4, the Pentagon termed the deaths “an honest mistake.”
In September 2019, the US targeted the Taliban and instead hit a wedding party killing at least 40 civilians.
In Syria, in 2019, the US mistakenly attacked and killed dozens of women and children.
The list can go on.
One report I read brought the total of innocent civilians killed by the United States via drone and missile strikes to 140,000. That may be an exaggeration, but nevertheless, the numbers are huge.
In January 2022, the Pentagon pledged to be more transparent about these mistakes, which is why we are hearing about them now. No doubt, that is a good thing. It also clearly points out that the United States and the Pentagon know full well that, sometimes, innocent civilians are hurt in war. And yet, they are not offering that same understanding to Israel.
Actually, the United States is refusing to extend that same understanding to Israel – the country that has, by all other accounts, set the gold standard for civilian death ratios.
Instead, the United States persists in publicly chastising Israel for civilian deaths, knowing full well, as we all do, that Hamas hides behind civilians and civilian institutions like schools, mosques, and hospitals. Knowing that Hamas uses their own innocent civilians, as human shields.
More than simply a double standard, the constant haranguing of Israel by the United States over the deaths of innocents – the accidental deaths of innocents, the unavoidable deaths of innocents during wartime – constitutes an immoral attack against an ethical army that is doing its best to prevent civilian casualties.
The IDF is doing its best to prevent civilian deaths even to the point of often endangering its own forces – and the United States knows that fully well.
So, while I applaud the Pentagon for admitting that they mistakenly killed a Syrian shepherd, I just wish they would apply the same standard to Israel that they apply to themselves. But for now, that act of understanding and global recognition doesn’t seem to fit their agenda.
It’s more than infuriating – It’s shameful.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.