Misinformation About Drone Strikes is Making Me Lose My Mind

I miss having sources I can trust

I’m less-than-jazzed to write about drones. Drone strikes are a topic that makes people retreat to their identity corners; some people feel the need to reflexively denounce American imperialism, others bristle at the thought of some dirty hippie bad-mouthing the US of A. So, I’m going to make a request: If the mere mention of the word “drones” makes your blood boil, and you already know that you won’t “read” this column so much as “scan it to see if my opinion matches yours”, then please sit this one out. Do something else; I highly recommend Only Murders in the Building, and Mike Duncan has a new biography of Lafayette. Or, there’s always cat videos on YouTube; my career goal is to be more entertaining than cat videos on YouTube, and I feel no shame from the fact that I’m currently nowhere close.

After the airport bombing in Kabul that killed 13 US service members and an estimated 170 Afghans, a US drone strike destroyed a car that officials said was carrying explosives for a follow-up attack. Officials say that the strike likely killed the driver — a man named Zemari Ahmadi — another man believed to have “militant ties”, and three civilians. But follow-up reporting from the New York Times and Washington Post found that Ahmadi’s family reported a total of ten dead, including seven children. More reporting from the Times and Post questioned the military’s contention that the explosion may have caused a “secondary” blast, which would indicate the presence of explosives in the car. In fact, the reports raise questions as to whether Ahmadi was involved in terrorist activity in any way whatsoever.

One thing I’ve learned from following this topic over the years is that it’s hard to find sources you can trust. The military and the press often do things that make me think they’re shading the truth. And to be clear: I am not suggesting that the magic ingredient we need to inject is some independent jackass with a Substack (hello!). But, a close reading — or even a not-egregiously-lazy reading — of what the Pentagon, New York Times, and Washington Post are telling us makes it clear that they’re fumbling important facts. Which is a legitimate crisis for a guy like me, who has spent my whole life more-or-less believing what I read in the Times and the Post.