U.S. Air Force reviews drone strike that killed 10 Afghan civilians.

Lieutenant General Sami Said concluded that the actions taken during the drone strike of August 29, 2021 did not violate any laws of war, “it's not lost on us the severity -- of the fact that we killed 10 Afghan civilians. But I don't have to tell (you) this, you all know this -- Mistakes do happen in military operations.”

With the rapidly approaching exit of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai International Airport became the epicenter of evacuation efforts. On August 26 as crowds continued to gather at the airport, an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest near a canal at the Abbey gate. The attack claimed the lives of at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. Military members. Later that afternoon, President Biden delivered a warning to those responsible for the attack “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.” Three days later the United States carried out a drone strike on humanitarian aid worker Zemari Ahmadi and 9 other family members (including 7 children).

What followed was an assertion from the U.S. government that this was a “righteous strike” and that Ahmadi’s vehicle was carrying explosives headed for the airport. The narrative changed once the New York Times and other news organizations conducted their own investigation which concluded that Ahmadi had spent his last day running errands for the non-profit where he worked. According to the Times, the U.S. knew nothing about Ahmadi’s identity before carrying out the strike. On September 17 the Pentagon admitted that the strike was a “tragic mistake,” and that a review was underway.

Air Force Inspector General Sami Said was tasked with investigating both the actions that led to the strike and the false statements that followed. Emal Ahmadi survived the strike, but his two-year-old daughter Malika was killed alongside his brother on August 29. When speaking to the AP, Emal said

“They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished.”

The report revealed that among many factors, confirmation bias was to blame for the errant drone strike. The U.S. strike cell based in Qatar followed Ahmadi’s vehicle for 8 hours. With the use of (classified) intelligence they deduced that “the white Corolla, its contents and occupant were -- a threat to U.S. forces” at the time.

What role does confirmation bias play in this inaccurate interpretation? The Inspector General breaks it down as such

“When you're doing a strike so rapidly you need that -- pushback to be sure that -- you're not interpreting something through your very biased lens, which is human nature by the way. I've put myself in the same scenario.

If I started to perceive that car as a risk to U.S. forces I will start to read what it's doing and its occupants throughout the day through that lens.”

According to Ahmadi’s brother, the children had a habit of greeting Zemari when he would pull into the driveway. The investigation found that the presence of a child was observable two-minutes “before the trigger pull.” This critical piece of information was discovered by two independent reviews, but Lt. Gen. Said clarified that the individuals involved in the drone strike “100 percent did not pick up on the child — I have their chats, from the time preserved. We have the comms. We have their testimony under oath. And what they perceive to exist at the compound at the time did not include any women or children.”

I came across the Times investigation on September 10, twelve days after the drone strike. By that time the Pentagon had gone radio silent on the events of August 29 further pushing me to believe that they had in fact killed innocent civilians. What confused me and probably many others was the confidence exhibited by pentagon officials during those initial days, they went as far as to say that this was a “righteous strike.”

Regarding those initial comments, this was the explanation given by Lt. Gen. Sami Said

“You can imagine, given the severity and the significance of the strike, there was a high desire to get information as soon as possible not only to the chain of command, but up to the D.C. AOR, the Pentagon, to you all, to the public, to the Hill.

The investigation was conducted very quickly, again, with pristine intent, to provide information as quickly as possible. But the timeframe it was conducted was insufficient -- to provide sufficient insight and reach conclusions that are really sound and based on facts.”

The inspector general offered three recommendations that target confirmation bias, communication breakdowns and poor situational awareness. Furthermore, the full report was given to the chain of command who can still hold individuals accountable in accordance with their own standards of operation.

Based on this report, all the actions taken on August 29 were determined to be rationale, therefor its hard to believe that anybody will be held accountable for the death of Zemari and his family members. I find this unfortunate for many reasons but mainly because Emal Ahmadi and his relatives will not get the justice they deserve. When analyzing military operations, outcomes should be judged alongside with intent, when both are dissociated then the rationalization of atrocities becomes quite simple.

Ex gratia payment refers to a financial compensation given to an individual as a favor or due to a sense of moral obligation. The U.S. government does offer these types of payments, but the sums fluctuate, and the process is quite discretionary. Zemari had worked for Nutrition and Education International for 16 years, this enabled him to be the breadwinner of his family. As the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan the family had applied for visas in hopes of being evacuated to the United States.

“In one minute we (lost) everything” remarked Ahmadi’s cousin.

STORY UPDATE - Dec.14

The Defense Department has confirmed that the recommendations from Lt. Gen. Said have been approved, none of which included disciplinary actions for military service members. Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday, that he does not “anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had with respect to the August 29th airstrike.”