U.S. Military Never Found ISIS Safe House Targeted in Lethal Kabul Drone Strike During Pullout
FATAL BLUNDER
HOSHANG HASHIMI
The American military admitted it never found the supposed ISIS “safe house” targeted in a drone strike during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Ten civilians, including seven children, died in the Aug. 29 attack on a house in a densely populated Kabul neighborhood—which the Pentagon has already described as a “tragic mistake.” The New York Times reports a U.S. military investigation has since been unable to pinpoint the real location of the terror base, which it said “illustrates the botched intelligence behind the strike.” General Sami Said, the U.S. Air Force inspector general who led the investigation, said assumptions had been made by U.S. officials as they tracked a white Toyota Corolla through Kabul, leading to what he called “confirmation bias.” The car was in fact being driven by Zemari Ahmadi, who worked for a U.S. aid group and had no connection with the Islamic State. Ahmadi was killed in the attack.