[pjw] NEWS: Second US drone strike (supposedly) kills suicide bombers (Reuters 8/28)

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

In yesterday's report back on the Friday Rally, I added a footnote about 
the US drone strike that killed two alleged ISIS members who may or may 
not have had anything to do with the attack on the Kabul airport. This 
morning, news broke that the US launched another drone strike, somehow 
knowing that a vehicle was laden with explosives and headed for another 
suicide bombing. The US is "assessing" whether they killed any civilians. 
(Although technically, even if the vehicle was driven by ISIS members, 
they are also civilians.)

Our friend Zaher Wahab also sent along this article from Common Dreams 
which shows 5 ways the US set itself up for failure in Afghanistan, 
reaching back to 1979 when President Carter set out to oppose the 
Soviet-linked government.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/08/24/five-ways-us-created-and-prolonged-afghan-crisis

The ease and proliferation of remote-controlled bombings, the casual 
acceptance of "retaliation" and "self-defense" as justification for 
killing, and the lack of analysis about why it's OK for our government to 
kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong shows we 
still have a lot of work to do.

dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

  https://news.yahoo.com/u-carried-military-strike-kabul-134049919.html
U.S. drone strike destroys Islamic State car bomb in Kabul, officials say
    August 29, 2021, 8:40 AM   By Idrees Ali

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -American forces launched a drone strike in
    Kabul on Sunday that killed a suicide car bomber suspected of preparing
    to attack the airport, U.S. officials said, as the United States nears
    the end of its military presence in the city.

    The strike, first reported by Reuters, is the second carried out by
    U.S. forces in Afghanistan since an Islamic State suicide bomber struck
    the airport on Thursday, killing 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan
    civilians trying to flee the country.

    One U.S. official said Sunday's strike was carried out by an unmanned
    aircraft and that secondary explosions following the strike showed the
    vehicle had been carrying a "substantial amount of explosive
    material."

    Witnesses reported a large blast shaking a neighborhood north of
    Hamid Karzai International Airport, and television footage showed black
    smoke rising into the sky.

    U.S. Central Command confirmed the strike and said in a statement
    that it had no immediate indication it caused any civilian casualties,
    but was investigating.

    "We remain vigilant for potential future threats," it said.

    U.S. President Joe Biden had warned on Saturday that the situation on
    the ground in Kabul remained extremely dangerous, and that his military
    chiefs had told him another militant attack was highly likely within
    the next 24-36 hours.

    U.S. officials had said they were particularly concerned about the
    local affiliate of Islamic State (ISIS-K) attacking the airport as
    American troops depart, in particular the threat from rockets and
    vehicle-borne explosives.

    Sunday's drone strike took place as Biden headed to Dover Air Force
    Base in Delaware to honor the U.S. service members killed in Thursday's
    suicide bombing.

    On Friday the U.S. military launched a drone strike that it said
    targeted ISIS-K militants in Nangarhar Province, east of Kabul, killing
    two of the group's planners and wounding a third.

    As the United States continues to withdraw troops, officials say
    concerns about another Islamic State attack will mount.

    Biden sent thousands of troops to Kabul airport as the Taliban swept
    across Afghanistan earlier this month to help evacuate American
    citizens, at-risk Afghans and other foreigners who wanted to escape the
    country's new rulers.

    At the peak of the deployment there were 5,800 U.S. troops securing
    the airport, where the unprecedented airlift operation is set to end by
    Tuesday.

    Despite Biden's vow to go after the perpetrators of Thursday's
    attack, U.S. officials have cautioned that beyond a symbolic act or
    limited operation, the United States could in fact do little to degrade
    ISIS-K.

      (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Daniel Wallis)