Military Propaganda Exposed

 The New York Times and Washington Post say the strike the USA proclaimed as a targeted drone strike against an Islamic State terrorist who was an imminent threat actually killed an aid worker on daily duties in Kabul.

The Hellfire missile fired from a Reaper drone on 29 August killed 10 members of one family, including six children.

The NYT and the WP analysed videos and photographic evidence, spoke to experts and witnesses, and both concluded that the evidence suggested there were no explosives in the vehicle which undermines the evidence of US military reports that explosives in the car caused a secondary blast. There is scant evidence of this. Images of the scene to experts for analysis. One, Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, said it was highly unlikely there was a substantial amount of explosives in the car. He said fuel vapours may have triggered a secondary blast. Post-blast assessments expert Brian Castner said the second blast was probably "just the car burning or related to the gas or oil". Three other weapons experts pointed to the lack of nearby explosive evidence - only one dent on a nearby gate, no blown-out walls, no sign that a second car in the courtyard was overturned and no destroyed vegetation.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Mark Milley, at the time called it a "righteous strike" against the Islamic State group. The US military said it tracked the vehicle from an IS safe-house and it made several suspicious stops that involved collection and delivery of items.

The dead driver turned out to be Ezmarai Ahmadi, 43, who worked for the California-based Nutrition and Education International (NEI) aid group and who was applying for resettlement in the US. Ahmadi was dropping off colleagues at various places in Kabul, picking up laptops and water bottles. Ahmadi later drove back home. Ahmadi had worked for NEI since 2006, lived at the compound with two of his brothers and their families. The 10 victims were all related to him, including three of his own children, aged between 10 and 20, and five other relatives aged two to seven.

NEI president Steven Kwon said the charity owned the white Toyota sedan. He denied the compound had any links to IS. 

"We're trying to help people. Why would we have explosives to kill people?" he asked.

Afghanistan: US media cast doubt on Kabul drone strike - BBC News