Did US strike on Afghan clinic exceed combat authority?

World Today

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Campbell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The U.S. airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan, which U.S. officials have called a “mistake,” may have exceeded the rules American forces have operated under since their combat mission ended nearly a year ago, officials say.

U.S. officials have declined to discuss most circumstances of the attack in Kunduz, which killed 22 civilians, because American and Afghan investigations are underway. On Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama apologized to the Doctors Without Borders President Joanne Liu for attack on the hospital.

In a statement the White House said that he apologized to Liu and expressed his condolences for the staff and patients that were killed.

“During the call, President Obama expressed regret over the tragic incident and offered his thoughts and prayers on behalf of the American people to the victims, their families, and loved ones,” the statement said.

Obama also said that the Department of Defense investigation currently underway would provide “a transparent, thorough, and objective accounting of the facts and circumstances of the incident and pledged full cooperation with the joint investigations being conducted with NATO and the Afghan Government.”

Gen. John F. Campbell, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that as a result of the strike, he is requiring that every U.S. service member in Afghanistan be retrained on the circumstances in which U.S. firepower can be used.

“To prevent any future incidences of this nature, I’ve directed the entire force to undergo in-depth training in order to review all of our operational authorities and rules of engagement,” he said.

Campbell did not elaborate, but his statement suggested that the U.S. attack mission was undertaken in error, even if the target had not been a hospital and there had been no civilian casualties.

Campbell said Afghan forces fighting to retake Kunduz from the Taliban had requested U.S. air power, and that a U.S. special operations unit in the “close vicinity” was communicating with the crew of the heavily armed AC-130 gunship that pummeled the hospital.

U.S. forces do not have blanket authority to fulfill every Afghan request for U.S. firepower.

When President Barack Obama ended the U.S. combat mission, he directed the remaining U.S. forces to focus on training and advising Afghan security forces and on counterterrorism missions. Authority to use force was limited to three circumstances: “force protection,” or the defense of U.S. and allied troops; support of missions targeting remnants of al-Qaida in Afghanistan; and assisting Afghan forces in extreme situations where they faced mass casualties.

It’s not clear whether any of those three criteria applied to Kunduz. Campbell has said that U.S. forces were not directly threatened at the time, and there is no indication that al-Qaida was present.

In a report to Congress in June, the Pentagon said U.S. forces were no longer authorized to target individuals based on affiliation with the Taliban or any group other than al-Qaida. It said U.S. forces are permitted to take action against individuals that “pose a direct threat” to U.S. and coalition forces.

“For example, U.S. forces no longer target individuals solely on the basis of their membership in the Taliban; however, if a member of the Taliban threatens U.S. or coalition forces, or provides direct support to al-Qaida, U.S. forces may take appropriate action,” the report said.

Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee that although Afghan forces requested U.S. air power, final responsibility lay with U.S. forces.

“To be clear, the decision to provide (airstrikes) was a U.S. decision, made within the U.S. chain of command,” Campbell said. “The hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.”

Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who was traveling in Europe on Tuesday, issued a statement promising a full and transparent investigation. “We will do everything we can to understand this tragic incident, learn from it and hold people accountable as necessary,” he said.

Doctors Without Borders, which believes the attack may have been a war crime, wants an independent and impartial investigation.

The group’s international president, Joanne Liu, called for an impartial and independent investigation of the facts and circumstances of the attack, “particularly given the inconsistencies in the U.S. and Afghan accounts of what happened over recent days.” Liu added, “We cannot rely on only internal military investigations by the U.S., NATO and Afghan forces,” she said.

Story by the Associated Press