Pentagon Spox Calls Kabul Drone Strike that Killed Civilians a ‘Procedural Breakdown’: ‘Doesn’t Necessarily Indicate’ Anyone Should ‘Be Held to Account’

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Friday attributed a botched drone strike that killed Afghan civilians to “procedural breakdowns,” and suggested it was difficult to identify anyone who should be held responsible.

Kirby said Monday that Pentagon recommendations made after the Aug. 29 strike in Kabul, which killed 10 civilians, did not include “issues of accountability.”

“How does it strike you that no one is held accountable?” MSNBC’s Willie Geist asked Kirby in Friday’s edition of Morning Joe. “Because I know how it strikes a lot of people around the world, that you can get away with murder and not getting punished for it.”

“I do understand that,” Kirby replied. “We appreciate that not everybody’s going to support this decision … We acknowledged that there were procedural breakdowns, processes were not executed the way that they should have been. But it doesn’t necessarily indicate that an individual or individuals have to be held to account for that.”

Following up, Geist asked, “Is there discipline inside the Pentagon at all? Maybe there are no charges at all, but is anyone demoted or disciplined?”

Kirby responded, “There’s not going to be individual discipline as a result of this, but what we are going to do is learn from this. And we’re going to enact and improve our procedures and our processes.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

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