Biden team droned kids | Eastern NC Now

Lawenforcementtoday.com has the following posted by: Gregory Hoyt

The Pentagon has backtracked on the narrative that the August 29th drone strike took out hostiles associated with ISIS-K along with civilian casualties, confirming on September 17th that the retaliatory strike instead only killed civilians.

The August 29th retaliatory drone strike occurred amid a then-ongoing evacuation operation in Afghanistan and three days after a suicide bomber murdered more than 150 people, including 13 U.S. service members, outside one of the airport gates.

Days after the drone strike, Pentagon officials were adamant that the targeting of a white Toyota Corolla sedan, which resulted in 10 civilians – including seven children -being killed, was a success in eliminating a threat as officials claimed that the sedan was carrying explosives in the trunk when struck.

Despite the Pentagon’s assertions that it was a successful mission, media outlets began to cast doubt on that account of events, stating that the targeted vehicle’s driver was a longtime employee of an American humanitarian organization and cited a lack of evidence to back up the Pentagon’s claim that the vehicle was carrying explosives.

Come September 17th, during a Pentagon press conference, Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, referred to the drone strike as “a tragic error,” confirming the media’s earlier suspicions:

“I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike. Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mirrored those sentiments in a written statement, saying “that there was no connection” between ISIS-K and the driver of the sedan that was targeted and killed in the drone strike, saying the driver was “completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced.”

Accounts from the family of Zemerai Ahmadi, the driver of the sedan killed during the August 29th strike, paint a saddening picture of the incident.

Ahmadi was pulling into his driveway on August 29th, honking his car horn and being greeted by his 11-year-old son as the child ran outside of the house. Ahmadi let his son hop into the driver’s seat to finish pulling into the driveway, while the other children came outside to watch.

And then, the Hellfire missile struck the vehicle – killing Zemerai, seven children, and also Zemerai’s adult son and nephew.

Brian Castner, a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International, said that the Pentagon admitting to the strike being a mistake is a step in the right direction, but now the next step is that a transparent investigation into the incident is carried out:

“The U.S. must now commit to a full, transparent, and impartial investigation into this incident. Anyone suspected of criminal responsibility should be prosecuted in a fair trial. Survivors and families of the victims should be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and be given full reparation.”

General McKenzie did say that the Pentagon is considering reparations for the families impacted by the drone strike. Still, the erroneous strike has fomented concerns on the military’s ability to accurately track potential threats from the likes of al Qaeda or ISIS. General McKenzie addressed those concerns, saying:

“I don’t think you should draw any conclusions about our ability to strike in Afghanistan against ISIS-K targets in the future based on this particular strike.”

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