Afghanistan,
the only thing harder to get out of than a gym membership.
Just hours before America pulled out of the country last month,
it got in one final drone strike at a suspected terrorist.
You know, for old times' sake.
Except now we're learning more
about who was actually droned.
NEWSWOMAN: New questions tonight about a U.S. drone strike
that killed ten people in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reports the strike mistakenly targeted
an aid worker, not someone connected to ISIS-K.
The man's vehicle was said to be carrying bombs,
but he was actually transporting water.
NEWSWOMAN 2: There's mounting evidence
that that drone strike killed an Afghan
working for a U.S. aid group,
along with nine others, including seven children.
NEWSWOMAN 3: A U.S. military investigation
into the drone strike is underway.
We know from a variety of other means
that at least one of those people
that were killed was an ISIS facilitator.
Uh, so, were there others killed?
Yes, there were others killed.
Who they are we don't know, but at this point, we think
that the procedures were correctly followed,
and it was a righteous strike.
Okay, maybe we have different dictionaries,
but if you killed one guy
who you're still not sure was a terrorist,
but you definitely killed seven kids,
I don't think "righteous" is the word I would use.
You know, in fact, when you hear people use "righteous,"
it's usually to justify terrible things
that they know they've done.
Like, the crusaders said they were righteous.
Colonizers said they were righteous.
Terrorists say that they're righteous.
You killed families and children.
Yeah, it was for a righteous cause.
(bleep) you. I don't care.
Like, you know, we just observed the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
And what do we say? "Never forget."
Right. Which is a powerful and necessary sentiment,
and it's true. I'll never forget.
I'll never forget hearing the phone calls from that day.
I'll never forget seeing the towers fall.
I was in South Africa, I was a child,
and I will never forget that day.
But if I'm honest,
I think we need to expand on what "Never forget" means.
You know? I also feel like
we should never forget how easily our fear can drive us
to do horrible things to other human beings.
Because as terrible as this drone strike was,
what's even more terrible is that when you look back
at 20 years of the war,
there's absolutely nothing unique about it.
NEWSMAN: The past several years in Afghanistan
have seen a rise in the number of civilians killed.
The first half of 2019 marked the first time
that U.S. and Afghan forces were responsible
for more civilian deaths.
In 2008, we had the highest civilian casualties
from air strikes.
By 2011, those numbers have gone
from over 550 civilians killed in air strikes per year
down to around 100.
Then, when the Trump administration comes in,
we see a complete flip.
And it really goes into the idea
that we're going to the bomb the Taliban into submission.
Yeah, think about that.
At one point in this war,
America and its allies started killing more civilians
than the Taliban.
I mean, that's a huge failure on the part of America.
And now that I think about it,
it's a failure for the Taliban, too.
I mean, if you're killing more civilians than the Taliban,
what's the point of being there?
Like, if you're trying to catch the Candyman,
but you're killing more people than he is,
at some point, people are just going to be like,
"All right, all right, well,
"maybe we should just stick with the Candyman.
At least he's got candy."
What-what do you mean, he doesn't have candy?
Well, then why... why do they call him the "Candyman"?
Why don't they just call him the "Killerman" then?
Oh.
What makes it worse is that nobody ever seemed
to face any consequences for these deaths. Right?
There's no other job in the world
where you can just accidentally kill innocent people
and then show up to work the next day like nothing happened.
Right? Nobody at the hair salon is ever like,
"Hey, Vanessa, rough day today, but please remember
"for tomorrow, maybe use a little less conditioner.
"And also try not to kill an entire family.
"Otherwise, great job.
Yeah, see you tomorrow. Okay, bye."
Because America's air war
in Afghanistan was regularly killing civilians.
And what happened?
Was there a public outcry? Were charges filed? No.
For the most part, no one even really cared, right?
For most of the country, the war in Afghanistan was something
most Americans did forget... while it was happening.
And that's not what wars are supposed to feel like.
A war should be something that is impossible to ignore.
But to most people in America,
this war became like when you forget Netflix is on, right?
And then they have to pop up that little thing like,
"Yo, are you still alive?"
And best believe the people of Afghanistan knew
that the war was happening.
Because to them, the terror
of America's drone war was a part of everyday life.
And never forget that when a drone strike goes wrong,
it doesn't just end up killing lots of innocent people.
It also turns possible friends into definite enemies.
NEWSMAN: Most Muslims around the world condemn
the September 11 terrorist attacks
on the United States in 2001.
But many consider the U.S. response
to the terror attacks far worse.
In fact, some of the more controversial tactics
that the U.S. used in Afghanistan,
such as night raids... (indistinct)
and airstrikes that sometimes kill civilians,
created discontent in local communities
and actually helped the Taliban recruit more fighters.
Karim Khan, who is from that tribal region,
tells me his brother and son were killed in a drone strike
in late 2009.
He is suing the CIA, but given the chance,
he says he'd take revenge on those responsible.
I will kill them.
If Allah give me this opportunity, I will kill them,
because they are responsible for killing my brother and my son.
Drones are creating not just one generation,
but generations of jihadists, because if you kill a father,
his son will come, and then if you kill the son,
his grandson will come, and this is what is happening.
Man, this is such a shit show.
Forget being a four-star general,
like, if you just watch kung fu movies,
you would know this was inevitable.
If you kill someone's family for no reason,
they are going to want revenge.
And can you blame them for wanting revenge? Right?
This is what anyone would feel, any human would feel this.
Imagine if, like, I don't know,
let's say Norway blew up your house,
killed your entire family-- you'd be devastated.
And I promise you now
it wouldn't make you feel any better if they told you
they were actually trying to get some guy named Gary.
You wouldn't be like, "Oh, you were trying to kill Gary.
"Oh, but you killed my family. Well, oh, no hard feelings.
Good luck finding him. He sounds like a bad dude."
Oh, and if you're not the kind of person who is swayed
by emotional arguments, like "bad to kill children,"
never forget that war,
even wars that you barely know are going on,
well, you are still paying for them.
How much did the war in Afghanistan actually cost
on the accounting books?
Between the initial invasion and 20 years of supporting
the Afghan government, estimates are in the trillions.
It's an astronomical number.
Our experts explain that is because the war
was basically paid in debt,
and every day the cost of the Afghanistan war
actually goes up.
NEWSMAN: According to the Congressional Research Service,
from 2001 to 2021,
the Department of Defense allocated $837 billion
for military operations, but that isn't the final cost.
We fought this war on credit.
And so this was mostly borrowed money that we used
to pay for the war.
NEWSMAN: The total cost, they've estimated,
is $2.261 trillion.
NEWSWOMAN: The Afghanistan war cost
about 300 million bucks a day for two decades.
It is an eye-opening number.
Sweet Lord!
$300 million a day
for 20 years.
A day!
Oh!
Wow, I feel like I'm going to be sick.
Think about it, for the last 20 years,
Americans have been fighting hard
about where to find money for health care, for education,
for infrastructure-- in fact, half of the reason
Americans hate each other
is because they're always fighting about money.
You know, like, forget about schools and hospitals.
For $300 million a day, America could have made
a new Fast & Furious movie every day
for 20 years.
Yeah. We could be up to Fast & Furious 7,000 by now.
We're going to drive a car into the sun for family.
Man, but we did that, like, 2,000 sequels ago.
Yeah, but this time the car is green.
So look, I know it's almost impossible
to rule out wars forever,
but the least we could do, the least we could do
the next time we even consider getting into another war
is to never forget
that it might not actually make anybody feel safer,
or safer at all.
You know, never forget that it will cost you a fortune.
And most importantly, never forget
that there are innocent people on the other side.