KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered the people of Afghanistan his “personal regrets” Wednesday for U.S. airstrikes that have killed civilians and said he would try to improve the accuracy of air warfare, the imperfect fallback for U.S. commanders who say they don’t have enough ground forces for the deepening Afghanistan war.
“As I told them, I offer all Afghans my sincere condolences and personal regrets for the recent loss of innocent life as a result of coalition airstrikes,” Gates said after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “While no military has ever done more to prevent civilian casualties, it is clear that we have to work even harder.”
Gates’ unusual apology followed a frank assessment from the top military commander in Afghanistan: There aren’t enough U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan, so the military is relying more heavily on air power. Air power runs a greater risk of civilian deaths in a country where insurgents do not wear uniforms and they intentionally mix with the general population.
Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, had said earlier that the chronic shortage of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is forcing commanders to rely more on air combat.
U.S. airstrikes that kill civilians have angered and embarrassed the U.S.-backed Afghan government, and Karzai has been bitterly critical of such attacks.
Gates agreed to an Afghan proposal to establish a permanent U.S.-Afghan group to investigate all incidents involving civilian casualties. That would be a shift from the current practice of U.S., Afghan and international probes proceeding separately.
And the defense secretary said he favored “a bit of a change of approach” in how U.S. military authorities react when allegations arise over unintended damage from U.S. air attacks.
“I think the key for us is, in those rare occasions when we do make a mistake, when there is an error, to apologize quickly, to compensate the victims quickly and then carry out the investigation,” Gates said.
