Tom Vanden Brook

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Military officials acknowledged publicly for the first time on Wednesday that authority for airstrikes in Iraq and Syria that risk civilian casualties has been delegated to commanders on the ground.

The shift began last fall after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a new, more aggressive strategy against Islamic State militants that included more special operations raids and a focus on retaking key cities. Unsaid then, however, was that authority for air strikes on strategic targets with the probability of killing or wounding civilians had been delegated from higher headquarters to commanders on the ground in Iraq. That change was first reported on Tuesday by USA TODAY, which cited Defense officials involved in targeting Islamic State, or ISIL, terrorists.

Military commanders sought the expanded authority in order to hit more fleeting targets, because waiting for approval from higher headquarters could mean missing the opportunity to kill a key leader or destroy a strategic target, like a stockpile of ISIL cash. It also signaled a more aggressive approach to the war under the leadership of Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland.

Pentagon officials also stressed on Wednesday that they take great care to avoid killing or wounding civilians in Iraq and Syria. Since the U.S.-led air war began in 2014, the military acknowledges 26 such casualties. Several investigations are under way to determine if more civilians have been killed or wounded.

"We take extraordinary precautions to avoid civilian casualties, applying rigorous standards in our targeting processes, from a comprehensive analysis of all available intelligence, to a careful selection of precision-guided weapons,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “Those standards have not changed. Delegating authorities for targeting makes us faster and more agile, but it does not change this fundamental fact. Our goal is to minimize the risk of civilian casualties to the greatest extent possible. By any standard, this is the most precise air campaign in the history of warfare."

During a briefing from Baghdad on Wednesday, Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the military command there, told Pentagon reporters that giving more authority to commanders in Iraq has not resulted in “more civilian casualties.”

New rules allow more civilian casualties in air war against ISIL

Prior to the change, decisions on air strikes with the probability of civilian casualties had to be approved at Central Command, which is based in Tampa, Fla., Warren said. Now, depending on how many civilians would be put at risk in bombing mission, MacFarland or a lower-ranking officer could approve it.

“The more authorities that are delegated down, the more rapidly we are able to respond,” Warren said.

The U.S.-led air war has pounded ISIL targets with more than 40,000 bombs since Aug. 2014. After authority for riskier strikes was pushed down to commanders last fall, pilots dropped a record number of bombs for a month in November. The U.S.-led coalition, along with Iraq, Kurdish and Syrian forces on the ground, have retaken ground and several key cities, including Ramadi, from ISIL.

In areas of the most intense fighting, airstrikes can be approved when 10 civilians are likely to be wounded or killed if the target is deemed important enough to kill or destroy, a senior official said.

The riskiest missions still require approval from higher headquarters, Warren said.

Also Wednesday, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad to assess progress in the war.