We’ve investigated ourselves and have found we did nothing wrong
Well, the Pentagon has completed its review of their drone strike on that Afghan aid worker. This is the strike that killed him and several of his family (including a lot of children) after mistaking him for an ISIS-K terrorist. They were sure they had someone because he was driving a white Toyota Corolla. White vehicles, especially sedans like the Corolla, being so rare over there.
To the surprise of no-one, the “righteous strike” as General Milley called it at the time, they’ve investigated and found no “misconduct.” While there were numerous failures found, none warrant punitive action.
An independent Pentagon review has concluded that the U.S. drone strike that killed innocent Kabul civilians and children in the final days of the Afghanistan war was not caused by misconduct or negligence, and it doesn’t recommend any disciplinary action, officials said during a Wednesday press conference.
The review, done by Air Force Lt. Gen. Sami Said, found there were breakdowns in communication and in the process of identifying and confirming the target of the bombing, according to a senior defense official familiar with the report. But, Said concluded that the mistaken strike happened despite prudent measures to prevent civilian deaths, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a report not yet released.
Said told reporters Wednesday that while his review didn’t single out any bad actors or recommend any discipline, he does not have the final say.
“I didn’t eliminate the possibility of accountability,” he said. “That is commander business.”
As Air Force inspector, Said had no direct connection to Afghanistan operations and thus was deemed an independent judge of the matter.
Said’s review said the drone strike must be considered in the context of the moment, as U.S. forces under stress were being flooded by information about threats to troops and civilians at the Kabul airport, just days after a deadly suicide bombing. Thousands of Afghans were swarming the airport, trying to get out of the country following the Taliban takeover.
According to the official, Said found that better communication between those making the strike decision and other support personnel might have raised more doubts about the bombing, but in the end may not have prevented it.
More at the source.
Category: Afghanistan, Big Pentagon
But, of course!
Yep, nothing a bunch of $$$$ thrown at the problem and the remaining family can’t solve.
TAH DAH!!!
So “breakdowns in communication and in the process of identifying and confirming the target of the bombing” that result in the slaughter of innocents are fine, even expected.
Get anonymous allegations of racism, bigotry and discrimination and see what happens.
Army relieved ‘old school’ battalion leader over poor command climate
H/T to David for the link.
Killing the wrong dude and his family is all right, but don’t be insensitive.
It’s like the old “With all due respect” joke. Well, we said it was unfortunate. At this point, what difference does it make? /s
Stating the obvious fact that a US Soldier of Japanese heritage in custody of the Korean judicial system is “fucked” is somehow inappropriate?
The pussification of the military continues
We have a lot of “old school” vets here at my shop as well…I keep waiting for one of the younger employees to be upset by the nature of the language used on the shop floor sometimes…
No offense to Nigerians, or to the Japanese but the comments were accurate, no is afraid of the fucking Nigerian Army and Japanese defendants in South Korean courts are indeed less likely to receive a fair outcome than a non-Japanese defendants might.
Just because the nature of the words are uncomfortable doesn’t make them less true pretending otherwise for the sake some odd attempt at equitable treatment.
The truth is uncomfortable at times, it’s unpleasant as well at times. But what’s important about the truth is that it doesn’t change regardless of how anyone feels about it.
Military Prosecutors conceded that they would have a hard time gaining a conviction against anyone involved, as a review of their records indicated 100% completion of mandatory training for Recognizing White Supremacy Within The Ranks and LGBQT Contributions To Success In Battle.
Well, they did bulls-eye the intended target, so they have that going for them, which is nice. Now we just need to work on the target selection process.
That reminds me of a story I read years ago.
The Soviets were running an exercise involving tanks defending themselves against combat helicopters. The helicopters were equipped with remote control (i.e. a very large, primitive drone), and the tanks were not firing real ammunition to save on the cost of the real thing and to avoid damage to the expensive “drones”. One particular tank commander got extremely upset when the referees kept ruling he was “missing” the helicopter, so he loaded real ammunition, fired, and blasted the helicopter out of the sky. He got both a reprimand for disobeying orders and a commendation for marksmanship.
In other good news, Millie has assured us that the Chinese Communists will not attack Taiwan for at least two more years.
Independent investigation? Riiiight! How much family can the guy have left…seems like the air strike took out most of them. Oh…wait…they’re all cousins…never mind.
The Raccoon has absolved the Fox of any wrongdoing in the Henhouse!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0AxrOUJ62E
Men At Work (1983)
We’ll send a card and flower,
Saying it’s a mistake…
What’s the big deal? The guy was obviously guilty of “driving while Afghan”.
I will be the first to agree that some paranoia and suspicion are useful, if not mandatory, in intelligence work, but there are limits. Someone in authority in that unit needed to retain some connection to reality.
We were winning when I left!”