Aimal (R), sibling of Ezmarai Ahmadi, stands beside the wreckage of a car that was harmed in a United States drone strike in the Kwaja Burga area of Kabul on September 18, 2021.
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Two leading leaders, Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie of the Marine Corps, and Special Forces Operations CommandGen Richard Clarke of the Army, both suggested no penalty for the workers associated with the strike, according to 2 Defense Department authorities who talked to NBC News.
That suggestion followed a Pentagon examination discovered that the strike did not break the laws of war.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who formerly called the civilian deaths a “horrible mistake,” concurred in the choice not to reprimand any workers for the strike.
“What we saw here was a breakdown in process and execution in procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership,” stated Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby at an interview.
Ahmadi had actually worked for NEI for 15 years prior to his death, according to the company.
In a declaration, NEI creator and presidentDr Steven Kwon called the choice not to penalize anybody for the drone strike “shocking.”
“How can our military wrongly take the lives of ten precious Afghan people, and hold no one accountable in any way?” Kwon asked.
“What message is it sending to family members who lost their loved ones, and my employees who lost a beloved colleague? Their lives are at risk because of the government’s actions, its false accusations, and its public announcement of compensation even though no amount has been agreed or paid to those impacted,” he stated.
Kwon likewise stated, “I’ve been beseeching the U.S. government to evacuate directly-impacted family members and NEI employees for months because their security situation is so dire. When the Pentagon absolves itself of accountability, it sends a dangerous and misleading message that its actions were somehow justified, increasing security risks and making evacuation even more urgent.”
The strike came throughout the disorderly withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan, which President Joe Biden had actually bought inApril The Taliban rapidly fell the Afghan federal government, even prior to U.S. soldiers had actually left the nation.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 16:Gen Lloyd Austin III, leader of U.S. Central Command, affirms prior to the Senate Armed Services Committee about the continuous U.S. military operations to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) throughout a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 16, 2015 in Washington, DC. Austin stated that sluggish development was still being made versus ISIL however there have actually been obstacles, consisting of the ambush of U.S.-trained fighters in Syria and the accumulation of Russian forces in the nation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Chip Somodevilla|Getty Images News|Getty Images
