Hegseth Replaced Pentagon Civilian Protection Office with AI Before Iran War
In January 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drastically reduced the Pentagon's Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) staff, cutting the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence from 40 to 9 personnel. The remaining staff are reportedly barred from investigating incidents like the Minab elementary school bombing that killed 120 children on the first day of the Iran war. Hegseth replaced human oversight with Palantir's Maven Smart System AI. Cuts also affected AFRICOM, CENTCOM (now one person), and SOUTHCOM, hampering civilian casualty assessments. Former Protection Center Chief Wes Bryant stated the program has little operational influence. Senator Elizabeth Warren and nine other Democrats wrote to Hegseth warning that gutting CHMR leads to target misidentification, wasted munitions, and increased operational risks. Thousands of Iranian civilians have been killed since the downsizing.
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