Syria’s permanent delegation to the United Nations confirmed that the investigations of the U.S. Department of Defense regarding the massacre committed by the American occupation forces against civilians in the village of Baghouz in the countryside of Deir-ez-Zor on March 18th, 2019 are biased and represent a clear attempt to exonerate these forces and absolve them of their direct responsibility for the killing of innocent people, under the pretext of fighting ISIS.
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The scandal of the U.S. occupation army covering up the fact that it had committed the Baghouz massacre, which was published by the American newspaper The New York Times, forced the Pentagon to announce the opening of an investigation into it. But, as expected, the investigations reached misleading conclusions aimed at exonerating the occupation forces. The Pentagon released an executive summary of an airstrike conducted on March 18th, 2019, following a much-anticipated review process. It found that the attack that killed what initial estimates said was about 70 people, including civilians, at an (ISIS) encampment in the eastern city of Baghuz did not violate rules of engagement or laws of war.
Syria’s permanent delegation to the United Nations said in a statement to the American magazine Newsweek, “These biased investigations cannot deny the fact that a crime against humanity has occurred in Baghouz. It launched military strikes under the pretext of fighting terrorism without approval or coordination with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic.
The delegation noted that there are “serious questions about the reasons for not addressing such gaps previously, especially that the Baghouz massacre is not the first of its kind,” stressing the necessity of “the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, holding them accountable for their crimes, and obligating them to compensate the victims.”
The results of the announcement of the investigations into the Baghouz massacre led to tension between journalists and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who considered that the U.S. military should not be punished because, according to him, “they simply do what their mission requires according to the laws of war.”
The so-called “international coalition” led by the United States has committed dozens of massacres against Syrians by bombing residential areas in the countryside of Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hassakah, in addition to destroying infrastructure under the pretext of fighting the terrorist organization “ISIS”.
The crimes of the American forces were not limited to Syria or Iraq, as the air raids launched in Afghanistan over the twenty years of occupation caused thousands of innocent civilian casualties. Until the last moment of the chaotic and unorganized withdrawal of the American forces from Kabul, they committed a new crime by firing a missile at a civilian car, which resulted in the killing of ten civilians on board, including seven children.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
