On Friday’s broadcast of FOX News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security and Public Affairs Advisor John Kirby said the 2021 U.S. attack on Afghanistan that killed aid workers was linked to World Central Kitchen personnel. in response to a question about how it differs from the Israeli attack that killed He differs in that he says, “It would be imprudent to try to compare two things that happened in two different conflicts that took place three years apart.” And there was an independent investigation into the Afghanistan attack, and “that independent investigator found that there was no need to hold individuals responsible, but that the U.S. military had made some systemic changes in our view. We discovered that we needed to make changes to our procedures.” We gathered information and acted on that information. ”
host Martha McCallum asked. [relevant exchange begins around 3:25] “When we left Afghanistan, there was a similar tragic Hellfire missile attack that landed and killed 10 people. And when you asked me, I said, ‘What do you have?’ We’ll take care of that, but who is responsible for that? This is what you said, John. ”
Then she played a video of Kirby saying: …Accordingly, we do not expect any issues of personal liability to arise in connection with the August 29th airstrike. ”
Mr. McCallum then said, “So, you said that seven children were killed by a U.S. Hellfire missile, and that taking responsibility was part of the plan. So why is this? Is it that different from what we did there?”
Kirby responded, “Look, these are events that happened three years apart, two different geographic locations, two different countries, two different situations, two different types of threats.[s] What was evaluated and [two completely] Different armies with two different chains of command were involved. Therefore, I think both events need to be compared too closely. Martha, we also conducted an independent investigation into that incident, and that independent investigator found that there was no need for personal liability, but that the U.S. military could make some systemic changes, i.e. steps in the way. I discovered that I needed to change it. We focused on intelligence and acted on that intelligence. The Israelis similarly said the same thing about this week’s WCK strike event, saying they intend to make organizational changes. Now we’re glad to hear that. Let’s take a look at what those changes are and how they are applied. But these are two different events. ”
Then McCallum interjected and said, …This appears to have been a triggering moment for the White House. Clearly, momentum is building to take a harder stance against Israel and its tactics, but this was the event that really pushed things over the edge. So why is it so different in terms of what Israel did during the war? And my heart breaks for them, as it does for the seven children who were with this man in this hellfire. But aid workers know they are in a war zone and are risking their safety and taking great risks. ”
Kirby replied:I understand that [are] Similarities here. But I think it’s reckless of him to try to compare two things that happened in two different conflicts, three years apart. That being said, the Israelis say they made a mistake here. They have revealed what happened and we will look at their report and consider what we think. And they said it would get better. They need to improve their dispute resolution processes with aid workers, which will be important going forward. ”
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