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Pentagon Backpedals After Austin Says Israel Killed 'Over 25,000' Women and Kids in Gaza
A Pentagon spokesperson claimed the defense secretary was citing the total number of Palestinians killed by Israel—but the numbers don't add up.
Feb 29, 2024
The Pentagon attempted damage control Thursday after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a congressional hearing that "over 25,000" Palestinian women and children have been killed during Israel's 146-day assault on Gaza.
Austin's remark came in reply to a question from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) during a House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on his recent hospitalization for prostate cancer and his dayslong delay in informing President Joe Biden and members of Congress of his whereabouts.
"About how many Palestinian women and children have been killed by Israel since October 7?" Khanna asked, referring to the date when Israel launched its retaliatory war on Gaza immediately following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.
Austin replied, "It's over 25,000."
.@SecDef said over 25,000 women and children had been killed in Palestine.
I pressed him on whether he would support halting weapons sales to Israel if Netanyahu defies the U.S. and invades Rafah or prevents aid from reaching civilians facing starvation in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/Lv8S1DEeoW
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) February 29, 2024
Within hours, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh attempted to walk back her boss' admission, claiming Austin was citing figures by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and that the defense secretary was referring to the total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
However, Singh's explanation did not add up. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health figures cited by The Times of Israel Thursday, Israeli forces have killed a total of at least 30,189 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. Of these, at least 13,230 are children and 8,860 are women, for a total of 22,090. Palestinian health officials say that at least 10,000 other people are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed buildings, and that even that figure is probably a significant undercount. Assuming even half of the missing people are women and children—who account for 73% of known deaths—then the number of women and children killed far exceeds 25,000.
In late October, U.S. President Joe Biden was accused of genocide denial after he said he had "no confidence" in Palestinian officials' casualty figures—even though such data has been deemed reliable by United Nations agencies, human rights groups, Israeli and international media, and even the Biden administration in past reports on Israeli attacks on Gaza.
In November, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf contradicted Biden by asserting that the Gaza death toll may be "even higher" than reported.
Leaf's assessment came during a congressional hearing interrupted by CodePink peace activists. Members of the women-led anti-war group were again present at Austin's hearing, during which Khanna also noted that the United States has provided 21,000 precision-guided munitions to Israel.
This morning, the House is holding a hearing on the Secretary of Defense's health.
They kicked us out before it even began, including some who weren't even demonstrating.
In what sort of democracy are the public escorted by police out of public hearings? pic.twitter.com/oagf454pNy
— CODEPINK (@codepink) February 29, 2024
"The secretary of defense is supporting a genocide," CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said before being removed from the hearing.
Separately on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller responded awkwardly during a press conference when pressed by Palestinian journalist Said Arikat on why "it so difficult for this government to say we condemn the killing of Palestinian women and children."
*Heated exchange* State Department spox Matt Miller unable to condemn Israel's killing; blames Hamas: "Why is it so difficult for this government to say we condemn the killing of Palestinian women & children, why don't you say the word condemn?"
"We don't wanna see anyone… https://t.co/qMArzH8Dyi pic.twitter.com/WYmCAF0Pan
— HalalFlow (@halalflow) February 29, 2024
"We don't wanna see anyone die," Miller answered during a four-minute exchange with Arikat in which the spokesperson refused to say the word "condemn" and blamed Hamas for the more than 100,000 Palestinians killed or maimed by U.S.-backed Israeli forces.
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$400,000 Per Missile? Sanders Rips War Profiteers 'Fleecing' US Taxpayers
"Congress must put an end to this form of corporate welfare," the senator said, arguing that one new way to do that involves reviving an old policy.
Feb 27, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has a novel way to stop military-industrial complex profiteers from "bilking the American people"—and it's actually over 80 years old.
In an article published Tuesday in The Atlantic, Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a revived Truman Committee—a World War II-era bipartisan congressional panel "designed to rein in defense contractors, closely oversee military contracts, and take back excessive payments."
"America's national priorities are badly misplaced," the senator asserted. "Our country spends, with almost no debate, nearly $1 trillion a year on the military while at the same time ignoring massive problems at home. We apparently have unlimited amounts of money for nuclear weapons, fighter planes, bombs, and tanks. But somehow we can't summon the resources to provide healthcare for all, childcare, affordable housing, and other basic needs."
"The United States remains the world's dominant military power," the senator continued. "Alone, we account for roughly 40% of global military spending; the U.S. spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, most of whom are allies. Last year, we spent more than three times what China spent on its military."
Sanders noted that nearly half of the approximately $900 billion the U.S. will allocate for military spending this year "will go to a handful of huge defense contractors enjoying immense profits," with many weapons companies profiting handsomely off sales to Ukraine, which is struggling to repel a two-year Russian invasion.
In what Sanders called a "particularly egregious example" of war profiteering, RTX Corporation—formerly Raytheon—has increased the price of its Stinger shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles by 600% to $400,000 since the early 1990s.
The senator continued:
It's not just RTX. The stocks of American arms manufacturers have surged: Northrop Grumman's share price increased 40% by the end of 2022, and Lockheed Martin's by 37%. In 2022, the federal government awarded Lockheed Martin more than $45 billion in unclassified contracts. The company returned about one-quarter of that amount to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, and paid its CEO $25 million.
"There's a name for all this: war profiteering. There's a solution too," Sanders stressed. "Congress should resurrect the Truman Committee."
"These companies' greed is not just fleecing the American taxpayer; it's killing Ukrainians," he contended. "A contractor padding its profit margins means that fewer weapons reach Ukrainians on the frontlines. Corporate greed is helping [Russian President] Vladimir Putin."
Sanders highlighted the U.S. Department of Defense's six consecutive failed audits, including the most recent one last December, in which the Pentagon was unable to fully account for nearly two-thirds of its $3.8 trillion in assets.
"It should therefore come as no surprise that defense contractors routinely overcharge the Pentagon—and the American taxpayer—by nearly 40-50%," he wrote. "One company, TransDigm, overcharged by 4,451%."
"But despite billions in fines for fraud or misconduct, the contracts never seem to dry up," Sanders said. "That may be down to America's system of legalized bribery: A share of the profits from these lucrative contracts will flow back to politicians who gladly accept millions in campaign contributions to make sure the defense budget is always flush."
"According to the watchdog group OpenSecrets, defense contractors spent nearly $140 million lobbying the federal government last year," he noted. "Millions of dollars more go directly to members of Congress in campaign contributions from companies, individuals, and political action committees linked to the defense industry."
"Congress must put an end to this form of corporate welfare," Sanders argued. "The best way to do that is to reinstate the Truman Committee on war profiteering so that we can end corporate greed in the defense industry. A windfall profits tax could help achieve this end as well."
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Rights Groups Tell Pentagon Chief to Withhold Military Aid to Israel
"To protect civilians in Gaza... administration rhetoric on the protection of civilians must be backed by action and leverage."
Dec 21, 2023
Citing the "staggering civilian death and destruction" caused by Israel's 76-day war on Gaza, a group of 14 humanitarian organizations on Wednesday urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to withhold U.S. military aid to Israel and take other steps to protect Palestinian noncombatants.
In a letter to Austin, the groups—Airwars, Amnesty International USA, Anera, Center for Civilians in Conflict, Humanity & Inclusion, Human Rights Watch, InterAction, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders USA, Norwegian Refugee Council USA, Oxfam America, PAX, Refugees International, Save the Children U.S., and Zomia Cente—asserted that the Pentagon's response to Israel's obliteration of Gaza "has failed to live up to and... actively undermined" the Defense Department's Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (CHMR-AP).
"Israel's operations... continue to cause devastating levels of civilian harm and destruction and inhibit the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid—all using U.S. support."
Published last year, CHMR-AP lays out a series of policy steps aimed at preventing and responding to the death and injury of noncombatants. The plan was widely welcomed, but was also met with skepticism by critics who noted that the U.S. military has killed more foreign civilians than any other armed force in the world since the end of World War II, including hundreds of thousands of noncombatants during the ongoing global War on Terror.
"Israel's operations... continue to cause devastating levels of civilian harm and destruction and inhibit the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid—all using U.S. support. The result is civilian harm at a massive scale amidst a humanitarian crisis," the letter notes. "To protect civilians in Gaza and live up to the aspirations of the CHMR-AP, administration rhetoric on the protection of civilians must be backed by action and leverage."
The groups urge Austin to:
- Categorically oppose the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate attacks that fail to distinguish between civilian and military objects, and attacks that cause disproportionate civilian harm;
- Withhold U.S. assistance, in accordance with U.S. law and policy, that would facilitate violations of international humanitarian law;
- Refrain from transferring explosive weapons to Israel for use in Gaza and emphasize adherence to U.S. commitments made on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas; and
- Reject forcible displacement and the use of so-called "safe zones."
"In recent remarks, President [Joe] Biden... stated that Israel is engaging in 'indiscriminate bombing.' Such practices clearly violate
international humanitarian law principles that require militaries to distinguish between civilians and combatants and prohibit attacks that cause disproportionate harm to civilians and civilian objects," the letter states. "The U.S. government must unequivocally condemn indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians or civilian objects in Gaza."
While peace activists and progressive U.S. lawmakers have pushed for an immediate Gaza cease-fire, Biden has reaffirmed his "unwavering" support for Israel. Biden is seeking $14.3 billion in additional U.S. military aid for Israel atop the nearly $4 billion it receives each year from Washington. The president has also come under fire for asking Congress to lift most of the restrictions on Israel's access to a stockpile of U.S.-supplied weapons.
Speaking earlier this week in Tel Aviv, Austin, while underscoring U.S. support for Israel's war against Hamas, said that "protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral duty and a strategic imperative."
"So we will continue to stand up for Israel's bedrock right to defend itself and we will also continue to urge the protection of civilians during conflict and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza," he added.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel's war on Gaza topped 20,000 on Wednesday, with more than 6,000 women and 8,000 children among the dead. Over 50,000 other Gazans have been wounded, and thousands are missing and feared buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings. More than 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.3 million people have also been forcibly displaced.
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