There is another illuminating dimension to this story. Last year the Obama administration sought to minimize civilian deaths from drone strikes by generally requiring that missile attacks be limited to instances where Americans were directly threatened and there was a “near certainty” that no civilians would be killed. However, the administration suspended those strict standards in the current military actions in Syria and Iraq.
Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said the “near certainty” standard that civilians would not be killed was intended to apply “only when we take action ‘outside areas of active hostilities’ ” and “[t]hat description – outside areas of active hostilities – simply does not fit what we are seeing on the ground in Iraq and Syria right now.”
Ms. Hayden discussed the exemption and its applications in response to questions about reports that a dozen civilians were killed when a U.S. missile hit a Syrian village on September 23.
In light of Gen. Dempsey’s statements and Ms. Hayden’s acknowledgments, the administration’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza vis-à-vis civilians appears even more breathtakingly venal now than it did three months ago.