A Pentagon inspector general report says the US military’s civilian harm prevention framework has been severely weakened.
A Pentagon inspector general report has found the US military’s civilian harm prevention framework has been so weakened that the Department of Defense (DoD) may no longer be able to meet legal requirements.
According to the report, Washington has lost critical staffing, oversight structures, and operational infrastructure tied to its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) program.
Funding for the program’s data management platform was terminated, senior steering committee meetings stopped, and personnel assigned to the initiative were reassigned or removed.
“As a result, the DoD may not comply with its civilian casualties and harm policy,” the report stated, referring to obligations mandated under federal law.
According to The Guardian, citing current and former US officials familiar with the program, the internal rollback may be more extensive than the inspector general’s findings alone indicate.
Madison Hunke, US program manager at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, told the newspaper that the reported cuts could have serious consequences for future US operations.
“We are seeing devastating levels of civilian harm in Iran since February,” she said.
“If that’s any indication of the Department’s current approach to civilian harm after gutting 90 percent of its CHMR workforce, it’s hard to imagine what future US operations might look like if these programs are further degraded.”
The CHMR framework was introduced in 2022 after years of criticism over civilian deaths linked to US military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
It was designed to formalize civilian harm prevention through standardized training, operational procedures, assessments, and accountability mechanisms.
Airwars, a UK-based conflict monitoring organization, estimated in a 2021 assessment that US airstrikes and drone operations over the previous two decades may have killed between 22,000 and 48,000 civilians.
An Iranian motorcyclist rides past the Gandhi Hospital, which is damaged after US-Israeli strikes on a state TV telecommunication tower nearby in Tehran, Iran, on March 2, 2026. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via AFPDeadly Iran School Strike
Questions over whether the Pentagon is still meeting its legal obligations come amid growing scrutiny over civilian casualties in the recent Iran conflict.
A military investigation found US forces could be responsible for a February 28 strike on a girls’ school in Minab that reportedly killed more than 160 children during the opening phase of the US-Israel military campaign against Tehran.
The broader conflict has exacted a heavy civilian toll.
According to Reuters, Iran’s forensic authority reported more than 3,000 deaths, while US-based rights monitor HRANA estimates 3,636 people killed, including 1,701 civilians and at least 254 children.
UN human rights officials have warned that attacks targeting civilians, or carried out indiscriminately, could constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes.
