Topic: Civilian Casualties

Reports on the escalating conflict in Gaza, with U.S. officials expressing concern over the use of "dumb bombs" and high civilian casualties. The Biden administration is reportedly unlikely to grant Israel's request for white phosphorus shells due to the horrific burns they cause.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin uses the term "battle space" to describe the conflict zone in Gaza during an interview with Jonathan Karl. Austin emphasizes that the U.S. encourages Israel to follow legal advice from "lawyers on the battlefield" when targeting locations like schools. The hosts express skepticism toward the idea that military decisions are dictated by legal counsel, citing past drone strike controversies.

A Russian missile strike on a theater in Chernihiv, Ukraine, killed seven people and wounded dozens. While mainstream outlets like Deutsche Welle characterized the event as a purely civilian attack, reports indicate the theater was hosting a "Angry Birds" drone manufacturer demonstration for military personnel. The strike highlights the ongoing conflict over the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the war.

General Frank McKenzie admitted that a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, originally claimed to have targeted an ISIS-K suicide bomber, actually killed 10 civilians, including seven children. The "explosives" seen by drone operators were actually water containers being loaded into a white Toyota by an aid worker named Zamari Amadi.

Military sources report a significant buildup of U.S. troops in Kuwait, potentially for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria. Tensions are rising between Israel and Syria following the use of Arrow anti-missile technology against Syrian surface-to-air missiles. The discussion critiques the State Department's lack of visibility regarding civilian deaths in Mosul, comparing the media's muted response to the heavy coverage previously seen during the siege of Aleppo.

The United Nations is calling for an investigation into a US drone strike in Afghanistan that reportedly killed 15 civilians, including a teacher and students. The hosts contrast the media's focus on Russian "war crimes" in Syria with the lack of accountability for US "surgical strikes" that result in significant collateral damage.

Reports indicate the U.S. military uses a specific "calculus" to determine acceptable civilian casualties during airstrikes, with one official citing a limit of 50 lives to destroy an ISIL cash vault. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof claims these policies persist because they lack mainstream media coverage. The hosts criticize the transparency of the State Department regarding these deaths.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby faced intense questioning from RT reporter Gayane Chichakyan regarding US air strikes in Manbij, Syria, that reportedly killed dozens of civilians. Kirby defended the military's efforts to minimize collateral damage while acknowledging that the US makes a "calculus" regarding potential civilian risks before strikes.

The Obama administration released a report on the Friday before July 4th weekend claiming between 64 and 116 civilians were killed in drone strikes outside active war zones since 2009. Independent watchdog groups argue these figures are significantly lower than actual death tolls, which are estimated to be at least double the government's count.

A report on "triple tap" drone strikes in Afghanistan details the deaths of 17 civilians, including local elders and those attempting to recover bodies. Retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich appears on Democracy Now! to discuss his book, America's War for the Greater Middle East. Bacevich argues that U.S. military interventions since the 1980s have failed to achieve stability or democracy.

During a nuclear summit, President Obama acknowledged that the "legal architecture" around drone strikes was not always precise and admitted that civilians have been killed. The hosts note this as a rare direct admission of the consequences of U.S. drone policy.

Moderator Hugh Hewitt asks Ben Carson if he is "ruthless" enough to order airstrikes that would kill thousands of innocent children. Carson responds with a metaphor about his experience as a pediatric neurosurgeon, comparing the pain of surgery to the necessity of war. The hosts criticize the question as bizarre and compare the "ruthless" framing to historical figures like Winston Churchill.

A report by the monitoring group Air Wars estimates that U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIL have killed at least 459 civilians in Iraq and Syria over the past year. This figure sharply contradicts the official U.S. military acknowledgment of only two civilian deaths. The delay of the State Department's annual human rights report is cited as evidence of "massaging" casualty data.

Former Guardian reporter Jonathan Steele discusses the lack of Western media coverage regarding the 2,600 civilians killed in eastern Ukraine. He highlights the UN's finding that the majority of these casualties were caused by the Ukrainian army and criticizes the narrative that the Russian humanitarian convoy was a "Trojan horse" invasion.

An RT journalist confronts State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki with graphic images of civilian casualties in eastern Ukraine allegedly caused by Kiev's air strikes. Psaki defends the Ukrainian government's right to maintain order while attributing the root cause of violence to Russian-backed separatists.

Former National Security spokesman Tommy Vietor defended the Obama administration's drone program on CNN, calling drones "incredibly precise" tools that can "loiter for weeks." He dismissed reports of high civilian casualties as a "horrific consequence" of war. Vietor characterized drone policy as a "legacy issue" for the President, emphasizing the moral and ethical "wrestling" that occurs within the White House.

The legal justifications for the U.S. drone program are scrutinized, specifically the President's claim that the program adheres to "traditions of rule of law" and "due process." The hosts argue that the lack of transparency and the use of "avoidance" regarding civilian casualties undermines these claims.

Discrepancies in the reporting of the Afghan village massacre are highlighted, specifically the 17 murder counts versus 16 reported victims. The hosts discuss allegations that the attack was a coordinated military action rather than the work of a single "psychotic" soldier. They conclude that providing an alternative to the "crock of crap" on mainstream news helps listeners feel better.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism released a report claiming that US drone strikes in Pakistan have killed significantly more civilians than the Pentagon admits. The report identifies specific children and individuals killed since August 2010. The US government has rejected these findings, maintaining that no civilians were killed during the period in question.

During a NATO press conference in Naples, Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Russell Harding avoids answering questions about specific civilian casualty numbers. Harding claims that any answer provided would be "out of date" by the time it was given, implying a high frequency of ongoing deaths.