Twenty years ago the invasion of #Iraq began with airstrikes on Dora Farms in an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein. I was the Chief of High Value Targeting (HVT) in the Pentagon. We conducted 50 airstrikes on #Saddam and the "deck of cards" and never killed a single one of them. 1/

https://twitter.com/marcgarlasco/status/1616066443316969477

HVT cells were at the Pentagon (DIA), CIA, NSA, and CENTCOM forward. The war was to begin two days later yet Bush changed the plan & struck a massive palace complex on Dora Farms in Baghdad. CIA had HUMINT reporting of Saddam being there so the war might be ended swiftly. 2/

🧵 #OTD 20 years ago the US targeting community travelled to @20FighterWing for targeting week under OPLAN 1003 V - the "final" planning of the deliberate targeting phase for the Iraq war in 2003. #OIF @MarkHertling @laraseligman @MilAvHistory @militaryhistori @dave_brown24 1/ CIA, DIA, NSA, CENTAF, CENTCOM, UK, etc - went to the Outback steakhouse in @CityofSumter outside Shaw AFB to watch the AFC playoff game in a then dry county. The next day we started our macabre task. We plotted DMPIs on hundreds of buildings, worked with weaponeers, finalized 2/

The @DeptofDefense just released their annual 1057 report on #CIVCAS, admitting to killing 12 civilians and injuring 5 during operations in 2021. After a quick, admittedly cursory read here are my thoughts 1/ media.defense.gov/2022/Sep/27/20… The report leans heavily on the CHMRAP at times noting that there are extra steps that will be taken based on that plan in the future that may not have been available for this report. 2/

My thoughts on the @amnesty report on #Ukraine. These are my personal thoughts and not affiliated with any of the orgs I work for. They got the law wrong. Protocol 1 states militaries shall to the maximum extent feasible AVOID locating military objects near populated areas 1/ Ukraine can place forces in areas they are defending - especially in #urbanwarfare. There is no requirement to stand shoulder to shoulder in a field - this isn’t the 19th century. Ukraine still has an OBLIGATION to protect civilians - but they are taking steps to do so like 2/

I was the military advisor @UNCoISyria war crimes commission & documented the use of #cemicalweapons in the war in #Syria. We have UNVERIFIED accounts of #Russia using these weapons in #Ukraine. Perhaps the Syria experience can help inform. Russia NEVER used them in Syria. /1 There was NO USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS by #Russia in #Syria that we know of. There were dozens of chemical weapon strikes by Syria. Please see extensive analysis by @bellingcat and this report where I wrote multiple sections and contributed throughout: ohchr.org/Documents/HRBo… /2

Thoughts on the #Dronestrike in #Kabul that killed an #Afghan family. For background I was the Chief of High Value Targeting on the Joint Staff 2002-03, led UN war crimes investigations in #Afghanistan in 2011, and in 2015 assisted in a study of airstrikes while deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt while working for @CNA_org. There are two types of airstrikes - deliberate and dynamic. Deliberate are planned long in advance, have numerous checks, use a pattern of life analysis, and have a relatively low incident of civilian casualties. Dynamic strikes,

A thread on targeting: Bottom line is there are many checks in the targeting cycle to ensure targets are lawful, necessary, can be struck in a lawful manner, do not unduly risk lives, and are the proper course of action for the requirement. 1/ In all the missions I was part of there was NEVER a thought to actively target sites that were on their face unlawful. It was against your oath, training, and immoral, let alone unlawful. I never saw reprisals. Ever. 2/