from: Nick McDonell
to: Col USAF CENTCOM CCCI (US)
cc: A CDR USN CENTCOM CCCI (US)
date: Sun, Oct 16, 2016 at 7:43 AM
subject: Re: FW: CIVCAS Query/——— request
mailed-by: gmail.com
Dear Colonel ——— and Commander ———,
Thank you both for reaching out. I also think CENTCOM has an important story and perspective re: CIVCAS, and I’m looking forward to learning more.
As mentioned in the email forwarded below, I’m on contract for a book with Penguin/Random House to write a modern history of civilian casualties in U.S. and other conflicts.
My goal is a top to bottom understanding of how the U.S. estimates, causes, avoids, and tracks CIVCAS. To that end, I have three requests that I’m hoping we can discuss.
1) To embed with OFS and/or RS personnel tasked with CIVCAS tracking in Afghanistan. . . .
2) To embed with a Joint Terminal Attack Controller active in Afghanistan. A JTAC attached to OSF/RS forces in Helmand (currently 1st Cavalry and/or 10th Mountain, I believe) would be ideal, as I have made several trips to the province in previous years.
3) To interview personnel tasked/involved with setting Non Combatant Cutoff Values for airstrikes—in Kabul, Doha, Tampa, or wherever they are located.
What do you think?
I know I have much to learn on the topic—please correct any mistaken assumptions I may have made. To tell the CIVCAS story properly, I think it is crucial not only to interview but to see the U.S. Military in action. As you write, it is a tragic topic, but in my research so far it’s clear that the U.S. has the most robust CIVCAS avoidance policy and process in the world (and in history). How we got there, and what it looks like up close, is a story worth telling. The goal is not a scoop, or particular number—it is a thorough, accurate understanding of how the U.S. works on this extremely difficult issue.
I appreciate your attention. I’ve just arrived in Kabul and am available to discuss anytime.
Very Respectfully,
Nick McDonell