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White House Exempts Airstrikes in Syria and Iraq from Tight Standards on Civilian Deaths
(Yahoo News) Michael Isikoff - The White House has acknowledged that strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq. Dozens of civilians, including women and young children, were reported killed when an errant Tomahawk cruise missile destroyed a home for displaced civilians in Kafr Daryan in Syria's Idlib province on Sept. 23. Images of badly injured children appeared on YouTube, helping to fuel anti-U.S. protests in a number of Syrian villages last week. The village has been described by Syrian rebel commanders as a stronghold of the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front where U.S officials believed members of the Khorasan group were plotting attacks against international aircraft. Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that a much-publicized White House policy that President Obama announced last year barring U.S. drone strikes unless there is a "near certainty" there will be no civilian casualties - "the highest standard we can meet," he said at the time - does not cover the current U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. Hayden added that U.S. military operations against the Islamic State, "like all U.S. military operations, are being conducted consistently with the laws of armed conflict, proportionality and distinction."