175 Lives Lost: How US Airstrikes in Iran Highlight Failures in Civilian Safety Measures

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Critics warn the Pentagon has effectively suspended programs designed to reduce civilian harm during military operations. Concerns have grown as controversy over civilian casualties from recent strikes on Iran has mounted, with observers saying established safeguards did not function as intended.

The Guardian, citing a Department of Defense Inspector General report, said the Pentagon no longer adequately maintains the organizations, budgets and systems for preventing, investigating and responding to civilian harm.

The report notes that U.S. federal law requires a sustained policy framework to reduce civilian harm during military operations and mandates maintaining a dedicated organization, the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (CP CoE).

The Biden administration established the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) program in 2022. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin launched the effort to consolidate training, operational procedures and casualty-investigation systems after repeated civilian-harm controversies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

But critics contend the program contracted sharply after the start of the second Trump administration, and the inspector general’s review found evidence that operations were scaled back.

According to the report, the CHMR program was not formally terminated, but its steering committee stopped meeting after December and funding was reduced. Many of the program’s dedicated personnel moved to other departments or left the organization.

The inspector general added that the program contracted rapidly after Elbridge Colby and Dan Driscoll recommended in February that Secretary Pete Hegses scale back or end the effort.

Field accounts included in the report support that assessment. Wes Bryant, who previously led civilian-harm assessments, said the team now numbers roughly seven people and has been effectively sidelined from core duties.

The debate has intensified amid rising criticism that recent U.S. strikes on Iran resulted in significant civilian casualties. Claims that a U.S. strike on a girls’ school in the Minab region killed at least 175 people have heightened international scrutiny of U.S. target selection and civilian-protection procedures.