The New York Times — yes, The New York Times — released an investigative report on Friday that said the man targeted by the U.S. military in a drone strike last month was actually an aid worker who worked for a U.S. organization and had applied for refugee resettlement in America.
The Biden Administration claimed the strike was to neutralize an ISIS threat.
The Times’ report casts doubt on the version of events provided by Biden’s administration. According to the article:
“Times reporting has identified the driver as Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group. The evidence suggests that his travels that day actually involved transporting colleagues to and from work. And an analysis of video feeds showed that what the military may have seen was Mr. Ahmadi and a colleague loading canisters of water into his trunk to bring home to his family.”
Ahmadi worked for Nutrition and Education International. The report also said:
“Although the target was now inside a densely populated residential area, the drone operator quickly scanned and saw only a single adult male greeting the vehicle, and therefore assessed with ‘reasonable certainty’ that no women, children or noncombatants would be killed, U.S. officials said. But according to his relatives, as Mr. Ahmadi pulled into his courtyard, several of his children and his brothers’ children came out, excited to see him, and sat in the car as he backed it inside.
“Since the strike, U.S. military officials justified their actions by citing an even larger blast that took place afterward. But an examination of the scene of the strike, conducted by the Times visual investigations team and a Times reporter the morning afterward, and followed up with a second visit four days later, found no evidence of a second, more powerful explosion. Experts who examined photos and videos pointed out that, although there was clear evidence of a missile strike and subsequent vehicle fire, there were no collapsed or blown-out walls, no destroyed vegetation, and only one dent in the entrance gate, indicating a single shock wave.”
