Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to protect civilians during military operations.
Sen. Ossoff led a group of Senators urging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to protect the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence at DoD to minimize civilian deaths during combat.
According to a report by The Washington Post, the center’s senior leadership was instructed that the Pentagon was moving forward with plans to halt all civilian harm mitigation work, including winding down the center and firing or reassigning nearly 170 personnel who advise military leaders on limiting noncombatant casualties.
Sen. Ossoff is joined by Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“Minimizing civilian casualties in warfare is a moral duty and a strategic imperative,” Sen. Ossoff and the group wrote to Defense Secretary Hegseth. “We remind you that the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (“the Center”) was established by Congress and the law requires you to operate it.”
“Reducing civilian casualties in warfare is an obvious moral imperative necessary for its own sake. But it is also a strategic imperative,” Sen. Ossoff and the group continued. “The credibility of U.S. foreign policy flows not just from our raw military power but also from our reputation as a nation that values innocent life and protects noncombatants.”
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry with DoD.
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