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Celerity

(42,674 posts)
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:09 PM Sep 2021

Pentagon 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 drone’s 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. Ahmadi’s 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. Ahmadi’s 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 military’s Central Command mirrored a New York Times investigation of video evidence, along with interviews with more than a dozen of the driver’s 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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Pentagon acknowledges the Aug. 29 drone strike in Afghanistan was a tragic mistake that killed 10 (Original Post) Celerity Sep 2021 OP
Good work by the NYT investigative reporters... WarGamer Sep 2021 #1
IDK WHITT Sep 2021 #2
fuel tank? Was it a low velocity orange fireball? WarGamer Sep 2021 #3
Nah WHITT Sep 2021 #5
So what is your point? Are you claiming the Pentagon is making this up, taking 100% blame Celerity Sep 2021 #4
IKR BeyondGeography Sep 2021 #6
Did I Post That? WHITT Sep 2021 #8
All I did was ask ask questions. I trust (especially as it puts them in a terrible light) that the Celerity Sep 2021 #9
So, the commander admits it was a mistake? Treefrog Sep 2021 #11
Huh What? WHITT Sep 2021 #14
Pentagon said secondary explosion was from Sewa Sep 2021 #19
Our "friends" the Taliban had us wipe out a pro-Western family that was probably hoping to leave BeyondGeography Sep 2021 #7
No, we fucked up. Treefrog Sep 2021 #12
I figured this was the case awhile ago. Treefrog Sep 2021 #10
This Is The Pic WHITT Sep 2021 #13
So what is your point? Treefrog Sep 2021 #15
Post removed Post removed Sep 2021 #16
Well, there's a reasoned and well thought out answer. Treefrog Sep 2021 #17
Nice response PJMcK Sep 2021 #18

WHITT

(2,868 posts)
2. IDK
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:16 PM
Sep 2021

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.

Celerity

(42,674 posts)
4. So what is your point? Are you claiming the Pentagon is making this up, taking 100% blame
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:19 PM
Sep 2021

for no good reason?

WHITT

(2,868 posts)
8. Did I Post That?
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:28 PM
Sep 2021

I'm merely relating to what I saw, which doesn't comport with the explanation offered.


Celerity

(42,674 posts)
9. All I did was ask ask questions. I trust (especially as it puts them in a terrible light) that the
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:40 PM
Sep 2021

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.

Sewa

(1,242 posts)
19. Pentagon said secondary explosion was from
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 06:20 PM
Sep 2021

Propane tank that was behind vehicle. Per CNN crawler.

BeyondGeography

(39,285 posts)
7. Our "friends" the Taliban had us wipe out a pro-Western family that was probably hoping to leave
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:27 PM
Sep 2021

My cynical take.

WHITT

(2,868 posts)
13. This Is The Pic
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 04:13 PM
Sep 2021

that was originally presented:



But the article sez:

The explosives the military claimed were loaded in the trunk of a white Toyota sedan


Response to Treefrog (Reply #15)

PJMcK

(21,922 posts)
18. Nice response
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 04:24 PM
Sep 2021

Perhaps you could clarify your snark a bit. I'm sure it would be helpful in understanding your point of view.

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