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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPentagon acknowledges the Aug. 29 drone strike in Afghanistan was a tragic mistake that killed 10
civilians.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/politics/pentagon-drone-strike-afghanistan.html
WASHINGTON The Pentagon acknowledged on Friday that a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan on Aug. 29 that officials said was necessary to prevent an attack on American troops was a tragic mistake that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, an American military official familiar with the investigation said. The explosives the military claimed were loaded in the trunk of a white Toyota sedan struck by the drones Hellfire missile were most likely water bottles, and a secondary explosion in the courtyard in a densely populated Kabul neighborhood where that attack took place was probably a propane or gas tank, the official said. In short, the car posed no threat at all, investigators concluded.
The official also acknowledged that the driver of the car, Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group, had nothing to do with ISIS, as military officials had previously asserted. Mr. Ahmadis only connection to the terrorist group appeared to be a fleeting and innocuous interaction with people in what the military believed was an ISIS safehouse in Kabul, an initial link that led military analysts to make one mistaken judgment after another while tracking Mr. Ahmadis movements in a sedan for the next eight hours. It was a mistake, the official said in a briefing with three reporters before the Pentagon made the results of a military investigation public.
The findings of the inquiry by the militarys Central Command mirrored a New York Times investigation of video evidence, along with interviews with more than a dozen of the drivers co-workers and family members in Kabul. The Times inquiry raised doubts about the U.S. version of events, including whether explosives were present in the vehicle, whether the driver had a connection to ISIS, and whether there was a second explosion after the missile struck the car. Military officials cited the investigation by The Times and other media organizations as providing valuable visual and other evidence that forced the military to reassess the judgments that led it to believe, falsely, that the sedan posed a threat.
As recently as Monday, the Pentagon was still asserting that the last U.S. drone strike in the 20-year American war in Afghanistan was necessary to prevent an attack on American troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said that the missile was launched because the military had intelligence suggesting a credible, imminent threat to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, where U.S. and allied troops were frantically trying to evacuate people. General Milley later called the strike righteous.
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WarGamer
(12,106 posts)In the third-party video I saw, those were some pretty large secondary explosions like at most a second later, directly from the truck, not off to the side.
WarGamer
(12,106 posts)I've seen fuel tanks go up, this was much bigger, much higher, with a large plume.
Celerity
(42,674 posts)for no good reason?
BeyondGeography
(39,285 posts)WHITT
(2,868 posts)I'm merely relating to what I saw, which doesn't comport with the explanation offered.
Celerity
(42,674 posts)Pentagon is owning up to a tragic mistake. I find that to be far more persuasive than some amateur internet analysis based off very limited access, and a very small part of all the information at hand.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)But you know better?
Huh?
GEEZ
Sewa
(1,242 posts)Propane tank that was behind vehicle. Per CNN crawler.
BeyondGeography
(39,285 posts)My cynical take.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)The commander has admitted such.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)This is awful.
WHITT
(2,868 posts)that was originally presented:
But the article sez:
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)The seven children were terrorists?
Response to Treefrog (Reply #15)
Post removed
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)PJMcK
(21,922 posts)Perhaps you could clarify your snark a bit. I'm sure it would be helpful in understanding your point of view.