US lawmakers demand answers over bombing of Iranian girls school that killed nearly 200

A growing number of US lawmakers are demanding answers on the bombing of an Iranian girls' school by the American military that killed nearly 200 on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

On Wednesday, a group of Democratic Congress members attended a memorial on Capitol Hill in recognition of those who had lost their lives in the bombing, which an initial inquiry indicates was carried out by the US. 

Among those in attendance were Senator Chris Van Holden of Maryland, and Representatives Greg Casar of Texas, Sara Jacobs of California, and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona—a daughter of Iranian immigrants as well.

Displayed at the memorial, organised by Win Without War, MoveOn Civic Action, and the Center for International Policy Advocacy, were over 100 backpacks and small shoes in tribute to the schoolchildren, and signs protesting bombings in nearby countries. 

They are calling for an end to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which they say US President Donald Trump launched without authorisation.

This is part of a growing frustration among lawmakers, mainly Democrats to date, over what many believe should have been preventable, given available technology.

Last week, a group of around 40 senators issued a joint letter demanding answers about the school bombing from the Department of Defence.

"The results of this school attack are horrific. The majority of those killed in the strikes were girls between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. Neither the United States nor the Israeli Government has yet taken responsibility for this attack," they wrote.

Trump initially blamed Iran, though an internal US inquiry later pointed to the US as the source of the attack.

In a congressional hearing earlier this week, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York grilled a US general on the airstrikes on the school, asking for information on the process of identifying targets.

"Based on what I've heard from reporting, the data that was looked at was a decade old, that any person who can get satellite access to Google Maps today can see that this was a school," she said.

In his response, the general did not say how they had determined their target, but said such incidents make them reflect and try to improve their processes.

The US strikes on the school in Minab in southern Iran were to date the deadliest incident of civilian casualties since the beginning of the war on 28 February, with around 180 killed, mainly children. 

It is also one of the first major controversies over the use of artificial intelligence in a military attack, exposing Defence Department funding cuts that could have been avoided, potentially preventing such an attack. 

"This underscores that there's no military solution [to US tensions with Iran]. AI won’t make war any more effective or productive," David Frank, professor of rhetoric and political communication, told The New Arab.

"This brings back the responsibility to US taxpayers to hold the government responsible," he added.