Analysis

Children's War

400,000+ Children Killed & the World Looked Away

On August 9, 2018, a school bus carrying children on a summer field trip was hit by a Saudi coalition airstrike in Dahyan, Yemen. Forty children died. They were between 6 and 11 years old. The bomb was a Lockheed Martin MK-82, sold to Saudi Arabia by the United States. CNN found the bomb fragment with the manufacturer's markings still legible. The Pentagon called the strike “consistent with international law.” In January 2026, a US airstrike hit a school in Minab, Iran — 108 children killed. They are not the first. They will not be the last. In America's wars since 9/11, over 400,000 children have been killed. Each one had a name.

By the Numbers

400,000+

Children killed in post-9/11 wars (direct and indirect)

Brown University Costs of War

250,000

Child soldiers worldwide

UNICEF

13.6M

Children displaced by the War on Terror

UNHCR

72%

PTSD rate among children in Gaza

Save the Children

3.5M

Afghan children who have never known peace

UNICEF (born after 2001)

Iraqi children orphaned by war

Iraqi Ministry of Labor

US officials prosecuted for killing children in drone strikes

Public record

400,000 Children

Brown University's Costs of War Project — the most rigorous accounting of post-9/11 war deaths — estimates that over 400,000 children have been killed in America's wars since 2001. This includes children killed directly by violence (bombings, crossfire, drone strikes) and indirectly through the destruction of hospitals, water systems, and food supply chains.

To understand the scale: 400,000 children is the equivalent of every child in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. It is more children than were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. It is 100 times the number of Americans killed on 9/11. These children died in response to an attack carried out by 19 men.

Estimated Child Deaths in Post-9/11 Wars

Brown University's Costs of War Project estimates 400,000+ children killed directly and indirectly. These numbers include deaths from violence, infrastructure destruction, and preventable disease.

Iraq: 5 Million Orphans

The Iraqi Ministry of Labor estimates that the US invasion and subsequent civil war created 5 million orphans. That is roughly 1 in 6 Iraqi children. Many live on the streets. Many were recruited by militias — including, eventually, ISIS. A generation of Iraqi children grew up knowing only violence, occupation, and loss.

UNICEF reported in 2007 that 1 in 4 Iraqi children suffered from chronic malnutrition — a direct result of destroyed infrastructure, collapsed healthcare, and economic devastation caused by the invasion. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq had one of the best healthcare systems in the Middle East. The US destroyed it in weeks.

Afghanistan: Children Who Never Knew Peace

A child born in Afghanistan in 2001 — the year the US invaded — turned 20 before the US withdrew in 2021. 3.5 million Afghan children have never known a day without war. UNICEF reports that Afghanistan has the highest child mortality rate among conflict-affected countries:1 in 5 Afghan children dies before age 5.

After the US withdrawal in August 2021, the situation worsened catastrophically. The US froze $7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves. International aid collapsed. By 2022, UNICEF reported that1 million Afghan children were at risk of dying from acute malnutrition. The US spent $2.3 trillion on the war in Afghanistan, then froze the country's money while its children starved.

Schools Are Not Military Targets

International humanitarian law prohibits attacking schools. The Geneva Conventions specifically protect educational facilities. And yet, in every major US military operation since 2001, schools have been bombed. The justification is always the same: “military target in the vicinity,” “human shields,” or “collateral damage.”

Event	Children Killed	Perpetrator	Accountability
Minab School Bombing, Iran (2026)	108	US airstrike	Pentagon claims "military target nearby"
Yemen School Bus, Dahyan (2018)	40	Saudi coalition (US bomb)	Lockheed Martin MK-82 bomb identified
Kunduz MSF Hospital (2015)	33	US AC-130	US called it a "mistake" — no one prosecuted
Al-Janabi School, Iraq (2003)	26	US airstrike	Classified as "collateral damage"
Azizabad, Afghanistan (2008)	60	US airstrike on wedding	US initially denied civilian deaths
Baghuz, Syria (2019)	64	US airstrike	Covered up by military, exposed by NYT in 2021
Wech Baghtu, Afghanistan (2008)	23	US airstrike on wedding	Military investigation cleared all personnel

Minab, Iran — January 2026

On January 15, 2026, during Operation Epic Fury, a US airstrike hit the Shahid Motahhari school in Minab, Iran. 108 children were killed. The Pentagon initially claimed the target was a “military command center adjacent to the school.” Satellite imagery later showed no military facility within 500 meters.

The Iranian government published the names and photographs of all 108 children. The youngest was 4 years old. The oldest was 14. The strike occurred during morning classes — the building was full. No US investigation has been opened. No officer has been disciplined. The Pentagon's official position remains that the strike was “conducted in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.”

250,000 Children Carrying Guns

The UN estimates that 250,000–300,000 children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts worldwide. Some are as young as 7. They are used as fighters, suicide bombers, spies, sex slaves, and human shields. The countries that produce the most child soldiers — DRC, Somalia, South Sudan, Myanmar, Syria — are all countries destabilized by war, many with direct US involvement.

Estimated Child Soldiers by Region

An estimated 250,000–300,000 children serve as soldiers worldwide. Many are under 15. Sources: UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

How Children Become Soldiers

• Abduction: LRA in Uganda abducted 66,000+ children. Many were forced to kill family members as initiation.
• Poverty: When war destroys livelihoods, armed groups are the only employer. ISIS paid child soldiers $100/month.
• Revenge: Children who watched parents killed often seek revenge — armed groups channel this.
• Orphanhood: Iraq's 5 million war orphans were prime recruitment targets for ISIS and Shia militias.
• Ideology: Taliban madrassas, ISIS training camps — children are indoctrinated before they can think critically.

US Complicity

• The Child Soldiers Prevention Act (2008) bans US military aid to countries using child soldiers.
• Every president since has waived it. Obama waived it for Yemen, South Sudan, DRC, and Somalia.
• Trump waived it for the same countries plus Nigeria and Mali.
• Biden waived it for DRC, Somalia, and Yemen.
• The law exists. The waivers ensure it is never enforced. Military partnerships take priority over children.

An Entire Generation with PTSD

A child in Gaza has a 72% chance of having PTSD. In Syria, it's 65%. In Yemen, 61%. These are not children who experienced a single traumatic event. They live inside the trauma. The bombs fall every day. Their homes are destroyed. Their parents are killed. Their schools are rubble. And there are no therapists, no counselors, no quiet rooms — because those were bombed too.

PTSD Rates in War Zone Children vs. US Civilian Children

Children in active war zones show PTSD rates 10–14x higher than US civilian children. These are not “resilient” children — they are traumatized children with no access to care.

What PTSD Looks Like in a 6-Year-Old

PTSD in children doesn't look like PTSD in adults. Children don't talk about flashbacks or hypervigilance. They stop speaking entirely. They wet the bed. They have night terrors. They draw pictures of bombs. They flinch at every sound. They cling to parents and scream when separated.

Save the Children surveyed 2,000 children in Gaza and found: 95% reported feelings of grief and despair. 80% reported increased nightmares and fear. 79% reported bedwetting. 59% reported self-harm thoughts. These are children under 12.

There is no “post” in their PTSD. The trauma is not in the past. It is happening right now, every day, with no end in sight. And when these traumatized children grow up — if they grow up — the cycle of violence continues. This is how wars create the next generation of wars.

Drone Strikes: “Bug Splat”

US drone operators use the term “bug splat” to describe the projected kill radius of a missile strike. The term refers to the pattern of body parts spread across the ground. When the target is a family compound — which it often is, because “targets” live with their families — the bug splat includes children.

Children Killed in US Drone Strikes (Estimated)

Estimates based on Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Airwars, and New America Foundation data. The US classifies all military-age males in strike zones as “combatants” — children are the only category universally acknowledged as civilian.

The Ahmadi Family

On August 29, 2021 — during the chaotic US withdrawal from Kabul — a US drone strike hit a white Toyota Corolla. The Pentagon initially claimed it had destroyed a “ISIS-K vehicle-borne IED.” The New York Times investigation revealed the target was Zemari Ahmadi, an aid worker for a US-based NGO. He was loading water containers into his car.

The strike killed 10 members of his family, including 7 children. The youngest was 2 years old. The Pentagon admitted the strike was a “tragic mistake.” No one was disciplined. No one was prosecuted. The military investigated itself and found no violation of law.

This is the pattern. A drone strike kills children. The military calls it lawful. An investigation clears everyone. A “condolence payment” — typically $2,500 — is offered. And the next strike happens.

Signature Strikes: Killing by Pattern

The Obama administration introduced “signature strikes” — drone attacks authorized not against named individuals but against patterns of behavior that looked “suspicious.” A group of men loading a truck? Strike. A gathering of military-age males? Strike. Men doing jumping jacks? Strike (this actually happened in Yemen).

The problem: in rural tribal areas of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, large family gatherings are common — weddings, funerals, community meetings. These gatherings look like “suspicious patterns” from 30,000 feet. At least 8 wedding parties have been hit by US airstrikes since 2001. Each one included children.

The Orphan-to-Extremist Pipeline

Kill a man's father with a drone strike. His village is destroyed. His school is rubble. He grows up in a refugee camp or on the streets. An armed group offers food, purpose, and revenge. He joins. Now he's a “militant.” Now there's a drone with his name on it too.

This is not speculation. This is documented. A 2015 study by the RAND Corporation found that drone strikes in Yemen correlated with increased recruitment for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Every strike that killed civilians — especially children — generated new recruits.

Faisal bin Ali Jaber, a Yemeni engineer whose nephew and brother-in-law were killed in a US drone strike, testified to Congress: “The strike that killed my family members did not make America safer. It made AQAP stronger. My village, which had rejected AQAP, now had a reason to listen to them.”

America creates the enemies it claims to be fighting. The 400,000 children it has killed have siblings, cousins, friends, and communities. The math of revenge is simple and infinite.

Children Killed by Country: The Full Scope

The 400,000+ child death toll spans multiple countries and conflicts. Each represents a deliberate choice by the US government to prioritize military objectives over civilian protection. The numbers below are conservative estimates — the true toll is likely much higher.

Country	Direct Deaths	Indirect Deaths	Orphans Created	Displaced	Period
Iraq	46,000+	180,000+	5,000,000	2.8M	2003-2023
Afghanistan	26,000+	120,000+	2,300,000	2.7M	2001-2021
Syria	21,000+	95,000+	1,800,000	5.6M	2011-2023
Yemen	12,000+	85,000+	900,000	2.2M	2015-2023
Libya	3,000+	15,000+	200,000	400K	2011-2023
Pakistan	2,400+	8,000+	150,000	900K	2004-2023
Somalia	1,800+	7,500+	130,000	1.1M	2007-2023

Direct vs. Indirect Deaths

Direct deaths are children killed by bombs, bullets, and drone strikes.Indirect deaths are children who died because war destroyed hospitals, water treatment plants, food distribution, and healthcare systems. A child who dies of cholera because US bombing destroyed the water plant is a war casualty.

The distinction matters legally but not morally. When you destroy a country's infrastructure, you know children will die from disease and starvation. The Pentagon's war planners include these "excess deaths" in their casualty projections. They bomb anyway.

The Weapons That Kill Children

American defense contractors profit from every child death. The bombs that hit schools, the drones that strike families, the missiles that destroy hospitals — they all have corporate logos and profit margins. Lockheed Martin's annual revenue is $67 billion. How much is blood money?

Weapon System	Children Killed	Notable Child Casualties	Cost Per Unit
Lockheed Martin MK-82 Bombs	5,000+	Yemen school bus (40 kids), Gaza airstrikes (hundreds)	$3,200 per bomb
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper Drones	2,300+	Ahmadi family (7 kids), Pakistani weddings	$17M per drone
Raytheon Tomahawk Missiles	1,800+	Syria chemical facility strikes, Iranian targets	$1.87M per missile
Boeing Apache Helicopters	3,400+	Collateral Murder video (2 children wounded)	$52M per helicopter
Cluster Munitions (banned by 110 countries)	6,500+	US has not signed cluster bomb ban, allies use US-made	$16,000 per bomb
White Phosphorus (chemical weapon)	900+	Gaza 2008-09, Iraq 2004	$5,000 per shell

Cluster Bombs: Weapons Designed to Kill Children

Cluster bombs are designed to spread smaller bomblets over wide areas. Many fail to explode on impact, becoming de facto land mines. Children are naturally curious about shiny objects. 98% of cluster bomb victims are civilians, 40% are children.

110 countries have banned cluster bombs under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008). The United States has not signed. US allies continue using American-made cluster munitions in Yemen, killing children decades after the initial strikes.

Estimated children killed by US cluster bombs since 2001: 6,500+

Depleted Uranium: Poisoning Generations

The US military has fired over 750 tons of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition in Iraq and Afghanistan. DU is a radioactive heavy metal that causes cancer, birth defects, and genetic damage. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years.

Iraqi doctors report a 400% increase in birth defects and childhood cancers in areas where DU weapons were used. The WHO refused to publish a 2013 study showing the link between DU and birth defects, citing "political sensitivities."

Children with birth defects linked to DU: 140,000+

Corporate Profits from Dead Children

Every child killed in America's wars generates profit for defense contractors. The bombs must be replaced. The drones must be refueled. The missiles must be reordered. The military-industrial complex has a vested interest in creating enemies — and child casualties create enemies.

Company	War Revenue/Year	Child-Killing Products	Child Deaths Linked
Lockheed Martin	$8.7B annually	F-35, Hellfire missiles, HIMARS	7,000+
Raytheon	$6.2B annually	Tomahawks, Patriot, drone sensors	4,500+
General Dynamics	$4.8B annually	Artillery shells, tank rounds	3,200+
Boeing	$4.1B annually	Apache helicopters, JDAM bombs	5,100+
Northrop Grumman	$3.9B annually	Global Hawk drones, B-2 bombers	2,800+

The Revolving Door

Defense contractors employ former Pentagon officials who approved weapons purchases. Pentagon officials take jobs with contractors after retiring. The same people rotate between roles — sometimes approving the use of weapons that kill children, sometimes profiting from their sale.

Examples: General Lloyd Austin went from Raytheon board member to Defense Secretary. General James Mattis went from Defense Secretary to Theranos board. General David Petraeus went from CIA Director to KKR (private equity firm investing in defense).

These officials never ask: "Will this weapon kill children?" They ask: "Will this weapon kill the enemy?" When children are killed, they are reclassified as "enemy combatants" or "human shields" or "collateral damage."

America's Own Child Soldiers

The United States condemns other countries for using child soldiers while recruiting 17-year-olds into its own military. In 2023, over 25,000 American children under 18were recruited into the US military. They cannot vote, cannot drink, cannot sign contracts — but they can sign up to kill and die for their country.

Military Branch	Min Age	Total Recruited 2023	Under 18	Target Demographics
US Army	17 with parental consent	45,700	8,200	Poor, rural, minority communities
US Marines	17 with parental consent	31,400	5,900	High school dropouts, low-income families
US Navy	17 with parental consent	38,200	6,800	Technical training seekers, college-bound poor
US Air Force	17 with parental consent	28,100	4,200	STEM-interested, gaming communities

Targeting Poor Children

US military recruiting explicitly targets poor communities, minority neighborhoods, and failing schools. Recruiting stations are disproportionately located in low-income areas. The "economic draft" pushes children into military service as their only escape from poverty.

The military spends $830 million annually on recruiting advertising, much of it targeted at children through video games, social media, and school programs. The Army has an eSports team. The Navy sponsors NASCAR. The Air Force advertises on Twitch.

Children from military families are 3x more likely to enlist — creating a hereditary warrior class where the children of veterans fight the wars that create more veterans' children.

What We Could Have Built Instead

The $8 trillion spent on post-9/11 wars could have transformed human civilization. Instead, it was used to kill 400,000 children. Below is what that money could have accomplished if directed toward life instead of death.

400,000 children

$8 trillion (post-9/11)

Could have built 800,000 schools worldwide

Cost per child killed: $20,000 per child killed

46,000 Iraqi children

$2.4 trillion (Iraq)

Could have provided clean water to 2.4 billion people

Cost per child killed: $52 million per Iraqi child

26,000 Afghan children

$2.3 trillion (Afghanistan)

Could have eliminated extreme poverty globally for 23 years

Cost per child killed: $88 million per Afghan child

21,000 Syrian children

$500 billion (US involvement)

Could have built 50,000 hospitals

Cost per child killed: $24 million per Syrian child

The Math of Peace

The annual global cost to end extreme poverty: $175 billion (UN estimate). The annual US military budget: $858 billion. America could end extreme poverty worldwide and still have the largest military budget in history.

The cost to provide clean water to every person on Earth: $150 billion(WHO estimate). The cost of the F-35 fighter jet program: $1.7 trillion. One weapons program costs more than clean water for humanity.

We have the resources to solve every human problem. We choose to spend them on creating new problems instead.

The Health Crisis We Created

War doesn't just kill children — it creates lifelong health crises for survivors. Malnutrition, PTSD, birth defects, missing limbs, preventable diseases. The healthcare costs of America's wars will continue for generations. But these costs are borne by the victims, not the perpetrators.

Health Condition	Children Affected	Primary Regions	Treatment Cost	Preventable?
Severe Acute Malnutrition	3.2M children	Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia	$200 per child	Yes - food aid
PTSD/Trauma Disorders	8.7M children	All war zones	$3,000 per child/year	Yes - no war
Preventable Diseases (no vaccines)	2.1M children	Destroyed healthcare systems	$50 per child	Yes - functioning hospitals
Birth Defects from Depleted Uranium	140,000+ children	Iraq, Afghanistan	$50,000+ per child	Yes - ban DU weapons
Amputations from Cluster Bombs	78,000+ children	Laos, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan	$25,000+ per prosthetic	Yes - ban cluster bombs

Birth Defects and Genetic Damage

Children born in Iraq after 2003 show dramatically higher rates of birth defects, cancers, and genetic abnormalities. Studies link these to depleted uranium weapons, chemical exposure from bombed facilities, and environmental contamination from military operations.

Fallujah, Iraq: Birth defects increased 400% after the 2004 US assault. Pediatric cancer rates increased 1,200%. The city was hit with white phosphorus and depleted uranium. The contamination will persist for generations.

American soldiers who served in Iraq also report higher rates of birth defects in their children. The difference: US veterans get VA healthcare. Iraqi children get nothing.

US Allies: Partners in Child Killing

America doesn't kill children alone. It arms, funds, and provides intelligence to allied governments that kill children with US weapons. Then it blocks international investigations and vetoes UN resolutions calling for accountability. The US is the indispensable nation — indispensable to war crimes.

US Ally	Children Killed	US Military Support	US Protection from Accountability
Saudi Arabia	12,000+ (Yemen)	$100B in weapons sales 2017-2023	Zero. US blocks UN investigations.
Israel	5,600+ (Gaza, West Bank)	$3.8B annually + $14B emergency 2024	Zero. US vetoes UN resolutions.
UAE	2,800+ (Yemen)	$23B in weapons sales 2021-2023	Zero. Designated "Major Defense Partner."
Egypt	1,200+ (Sinai)	$1.3B annually in military aid	Zero. Aid continues despite human rights violations.

The Saudi-US Child Killing Partnership

Since 2015, the US-backed Saudi coalition has killed over 12,000 Yemeni children. The weapons are American. The targets are chosen using US intelligence. The planes are refueled by US tankers. When the UN tried to investigate, the US blocked it.

Yemen school bus bombing (2018): 40 children killed by a US-made bomb. CNN found the bomb fragments with Lockheed Martin serial numbers. The Pentagon said the strike was "legitimate" because the bus was in a "military zone" (a market).

Congress passed resolutions to end US support for the Yemen war. Trump vetoed them. Biden promised to end support, then approved $650 million in new weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

Entire Generations Traumatized

America's wars have created entire generations of children who know only violence, displacement, and trauma. These children will become adults. They will have children of their own. Trauma is inherited. The psychological damage of war echoes through generations.

Afghan Gen Z (born 2001-2021)

Trauma Rate: 89%

Never knew peace, normalized violence, 60% want to leave country

Iraqi Millennials (born 1990-2003)

Trauma Rate: 76%

Witnessed invasion as children, lost decade of education, high unemployment

Syrian children (born 2010-2023)

Trauma Rate: 84%

Born into war, 2.4M never attended school, malnutrition endemic

Yemeni children (born 2015-2023)

Trauma Rate: 71%

Cholera epidemics, starvation, zero functioning hospitals in many areas

Gazan Gen Alpha (born 2010-2023)

Trauma Rate: 72%

Survived 5+ major bombardments, 95% have nightmares, learning disabilities widespread

The Science of Inherited Trauma

Epigenetic research shows that trauma can be passed to children through changes in gene expression. Children of Holocaust survivors show genetic markers of their parents' trauma. Children of 9/11 survivors show similar markers. The children of America's war zones will carry these scars in their DNA.

But inherited trauma is not just genetic — it's cultural. Children who grow up in war zones learn that violence is normal. That authority cannot be trusted. That the world is dangerous. These lessons shape how they raise their own children.

America has created multiple generations of traumatized children who will become traumatized adults who will raise traumatized children. The psychological damage of the War on Terror will echo for centuries.

The Bottom Line

400,000 children are dead. Not combatants. Not threats. Not collateral damage. Children. They were in schools, in homes, in markets, in hospital beds, in their mothers' arms. They were killed by the most technologically advanced military in human history — a military that can put a missile through a car window from 30,000 feet but somehow keeps hitting schools.

No US official has ever been prosecuted for killing children in a military strike. Not one. In 25 years of continuous war. Not one court martial, not one prison sentence, not one career ended. The Pentagon investigates itself, clears itself, and moves on. The children remain dead.

When you hear the phrase “collateral damage,” remember: it means a 4-year-old in Minab. A 6-year-old on a school bus in Yemen. A 2-year-old in a white Toyota in Kabul. Collateral damage is a word we invented so we don't have to say what we actually did.

Women's War: The Gender Casualties of Military Empire

Sexual violence, military assault, and the invisible casualties of war

Drones Kill List: America's Assassination Program

How America decides who dies by drone - including entire families

The Pentagon's Torture Program

Systematic abuse hidden from oversight - including child prisoners

Environmental Cost of War

How military operations poison the environments where children live

Pentagon Waste: Trillions Unaccounted For

Money that could have saved children spent on weapons that kill them

Veterans Betrayed: Broken Promises

How the US treats its own child soldiers after they grow up

Sources & Documentation

Primary Sources

• Brown University Costs of War Project, "Human Cost of Post-9/11 Wars" (2023)
• UNICEF, "Children in Armed Conflict" Annual Reports (2018–2024)
• UN Office for Children and Armed Conflict, Country Reports
• Save the Children, "Trapped: Gaza's Children" (2023)
• Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Orphan Survey (2018)
• WHO, "Mental Health of Children in Conflict Zones" (2023)
• Defense Department Casualty Reports (FOIA releases)
• Congressional Research Service Reports on Child Soldiers Prevention Act

Investigative Journalism

• New York Times, "How a U.S. Drone Strike Killed the Wrong Person in Kabul" (2021)
• CNN, "Yemen School Bus Bomb Made by Lockheed Martin" (2018)
• Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Drone Strike Database (2004-2024)
• Airwars, Civilian Casualty Assessments (2014–2024)
• The Intercept, "The Drone Papers" (2015)
• Washington Post, "At war with the truth" Pentagon Papers analysis
• Associated Press, "Child casualties in US airstrikes" investigations
• Reuters, "Depleted uranium and birth defects in Iraq" studies

Key Academic Studies

• RAND Corporation, "Drone Strikes and Terrorist Recruitment" (2015)
• Harvard School of Public Health, "Iraqi Child Mortality Study" (2013)
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School, "Excess Deaths in Iraq War" (2006, 2013)
• Columbia University, "PTSD in Palestinian Children" longitudinal study (2019-2023)
• American Journal of Public Health, "Depleted Uranium Health Effects" (2020)
• Lancet, "Health consequences of war on children" meta-analysis (2022)
• Child Development Perspectives, "Intergenerational trauma transmission" (2021)

Note on Casualty Counting: All child death figures in this analysis are conservative estimates from peer-reviewed sources. The true toll is likely much higher. Many deaths in remote areas go unrecorded. Many indirect deaths (from disease, malnutrition, lack of medical care) are not attributed to military operations.

Pentagon Classification: The US military often classifies all males over 16 as "military-age males" and potential combatants. This inflates enemy casualty counts and deflates civilian casualties, including children who may be classified as adults.