Many are unsure of what has happened in Kabul, Afghanistan, regarding the U.S. drone strike. An investigation has recently shed light on the reality of what the U.S. has tragically done. Before the U.S. drone strike, ISIS-K attacked Kabul on Aug. 29, killing Afghans and U.S. service members. This attack had put the U.S. military on high alert regarding ISIS's movement, as they wanted to prevent any other spells from occurring. One of the men killed by the U.S. drone strike, Zemari Ahmadi, was unfortunately believed to be a part of ISIS.
Ahmadi was an electrical engineer and worked for Nutrition and Education International, a U.S. aid group that provides food for refugees. He and his family did not have any connection to ISIS whatsoever. However, Ahmadi's typical workday made the U.S. Military believe he had ties to ISIS.
On the day Ahmadi was killed, he had picked up his co-worker to carpool. While on his way to work, Ahmadi's boss had called saying that he had left his laptop in his home and asked him to pick it up. Ahmadi picked up his boss' laptop, as asked of him, and then he went to get potable water, as water had been hard to come by in their town. Ahmadi then went to work and finally returned home, where he was ultimately murdered.
The U.S. military had released statements that they firmly believed that Ahmadi was planning to bomb the airport in Kabul. It had prior knowledge that white Toyota Corollas were used by ISIS, and Ahmadi's use of a white Toyota Corolla, as well as his stops, made him a person of interest. The military thought that Ahmadi's co-workers were other terrorists, his boss' laptop was an explosive and the water he had picked up was bomb.
When Ahmadi returned home, he was killed, along with other men and seven children. Ahmadi had not done anything wrong; he was profiled by the Americans and killed because of it. The American military was reluctant to say that they had done anything wrong, and they still classify an innocent man's murder as a "righteous strike." It had not even formally apologized after their investigation found Ahmadi clear.
Ahmadi's family and colleagues are now at risk of being attacked by terrorist groups because they have knowledge that Ahmadi had worked for a U.S. organization. The U.S. military should consider getting the Ahmadi family and others revealed to be working with a U.S. organization out of Afghanistan, but that is unlikely to happen. Ahmadi's family has also yet to receive any compensation from the U.S. for its loss, considering Ahmadi was the family's breadwinner.
This senseless murder brings to the front of many people's minds questions about what war will become. Will remote attacks become our modern warfare? And in these small attacks, will there be confirmations of a target's identity, or only suspicions leading to "righteous strikes?”