Pentagon Praises a Times Series That Exposed Civilian Deaths in Air War

An investigation final yr by The New York Occasions revealed a tragic spate of undisclosed civilian deaths from America’s air conflict in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The collection was deeply important of the American authorities, and on Monday it received the Pulitzer Prize for worldwide reporting. Then it acquired some reward from a extra unlikely supply: the American authorities.

John F. Kirby, press secretary for the Protection Division, acknowledged to reporters on the Pentagon on Tuesday that the investigation was “not comfy, not simple and never easy to deal with.”

“We all know that we had extra work to do to higher forestall civilian hurt, and we’re doing that work,” Mr. Kirby mentioned. “We knew that we had made errors; we’re making an attempt to study from these errors. And we knew that we weren’t at all times as clear about these errors as we must be.”

The Occasions collection, which included a number of articles and multimedia shows, drew on a hidden Pentagon archive containing confidential assessments of greater than 1,300 studies of civilian casualties since 2014. Amongst a number of findings, it revealed flawed intelligence and the imprecise use of drones and bombs that had been introduced to the general public as extremely dependable and exact.

In a number of circumstances, The Occasions discovered, United States army officers labored to defend civilian deaths from public view, providing deceptive assessments that hid the true toll of errant drone strikes.

“I can not say that this course of was nice,” Mr. Kirby mentioned of the protection. “However I assume that’s the entire level. It’s not presupposed to be. That’s what a free press at its absolute best does. It holds us to account.”

In his remarks, Mr. Kirby additionally acknowledged the particular quotation awarded by the Pulitzer board to the Ukrainian journalists protecting the present invasion by forces managed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

“It’s powerful to learn, powerful to look at,” Mr. Kirby mentioned of the Ukrainians’ protection. “However you realize what? It must be, primarily based on what Mr. Putin is doing. And the bravery and talent that they’re displaying each day is really inspiring.”

Mr. Kirby was appointed to his function on the primary day of the Biden administration. He beforehand served as press secretary for the Pentagon and the State Division within the Obama administration.