The nation’s top defense officials kept mostly mum about lingering questions surrounding a drone strike that mistakenly killed 10 civilians during their appearance at Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.The Pentagon initially said Aug. 29 drone strike hit an ISIS-K target, but admitted last week that this was wrong. The strike mistakenly killed Zemari Ahmadi, who had no ties to ISIS-K, contrary to military leaders’ initial assertions.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at first defended the drone strike, saying in late August, “the procedures were correctly followed, and it was a righteous strike.”
During the hearing, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., asked whether the drone operator was now being “set up to fail.”
“I’m worried that whoever was operating the aircraft involved in the tragic 29th August strike was set up to fail by an administration that wanted a political victory more than they wanted an American victory,” Cramer said.
Austin declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
“General [Frank] McKenzie did an initial investigation and I’ve directed a three-star review, and so I won’t make any comments,” he said.
During a lunch break, ranking member Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he wanted more answers.
“I’m not satisfied we got the information we need on the drone strike and that is something that is currently under investigation,” he said.
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold another hearing on Thursday where they will hear more testimony from nongovernmental expert witnesses.