Lotfi Hassan Misto was tending to his animals on May 3, 2023, in Qorqanya, a rural town in northwest Syria. Above, his movements were being tracked by an armed Predator drone. When U.S. forces fired a Hellfire missile into the rocky outcrop behind his home, commanders had confidence they were attacking a terrorist, officials said afterward. Instead, a defense official said, the suspected militant who had been their target slipped away and remains at large.
“The investigation determined U.S. forces misidentified the intended Al Qaeda target and that a civilian … was struck and killed instead,” officials wrote in the investigation’s summary, which identifies Misto by name. He was the sole fatality, along with several of his sheep, according to video captured by first responders at the scene.
Thursday’s announcement offers little additional insight into how U.S. commanders and analysts botched the strike, saying only that it was “conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict as well as Department of Defense and CENTCOM policies.”
The military’s investigation was opened about a month after The Post published its investigation on May 18 of last year.
In 2022, after years of scrutiny, the Pentagon said it would work toward reducing such incidents and increasing transparency when they do occur. The changes, enacted early in the Biden administration, were prompted by numerous investigations by the news media and other independent watchdogs that revealed how flawed intelligence and a dearth of clear-eyed analysis contributed to civilian deaths later minimized or excused away within the Defense Department and White House.
The defense official, who spoke with reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the military, said the investigation showed that the botched drone strike was the result of “confirmation bias and insufficient red teaming,” a term the Defense Department uses for personnel tasked with stress-testing the decision-making during such operations to ensure their accuracy.
“The investigation revealed several issues that could be improved,” the command added, without providing specifics. “We are committed to learning from this incident and improving our targeting processes to mitigate potential civilian harm.”
The investigation was prepared by a one-star general who was assisted by 10 senior service members and civilians with relevant expertise but who were not involved in the deadly mishap, Central Command said. The work included interviews with more than 40 witnesses, and it sought information from nongovernmental organizations. It is unclear if any of the witnesses interviewed were civilians.
The investigation was completed in November. Officials did not explain why its findings were withheld until now.
The dearth of information disclosed by the military makes it difficult to assess if U.S. personnel acted recklessly in this case, said Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale Law School. Yet the contours of the strike are similar to past incidents, she said, pointing to misidentification as a common factor in attacks that end in civilian bloodshed.
“The U.S. government…
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