The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee pressed the CENTCOM chief on Tuesday for answers about a strike that killed more than 150 girls at an Iranian school on Feb. 28, Anadolu reports.
During a US House committee hearing on US posture in the “Greater Middle East and Africa” Rep. Adam Smith urged Adm. Brad Cooper to acknowledge US responsibility for the strike on the school, which Iranian officials say killed 175 people, including more than 150 schoolgirls.
“It’s really pretty clear what happened there,” Smith said, noting that in previous incidents the US military has moved quickly to acknowledge mistakes even while investigations were still ongoing.
“Can you, at this moment, acknowledge that that mistake was made, and that we were responsible for it? It’s something we didn’t want to do, and don’t want to repeat?” Smith asked.
Cooper declined to take responsibility, saying only: “The United States does not deliberately target civilians.”
