The Daily Show: Ears Edition - U.S. Drone Strike Kills Aid Worker

Episode Date: September 19, 2021

A recent drone strike from the U.S. in Afghanistan kills an innocent aid worker, and Trevor examines the massive amount of civilian casualties caused by American air attacks in the country. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. 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 time's sake. Except now, we're learning more about who was actually droned. New questions tonight about a U.S. drone strike that killed 10 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. 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. 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 a ISIS facilitator. So were there others killed? Yes, there are 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 say they that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th that th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the they're they're they're 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 court. F. Feeke you, I don't care. Like, you know, we just observed the 20th anniversary of 9-11 and what to say? 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 full. 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. 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 have the highest civilian casualties from airstrikes. By 2011, those numbers have gone from over 550 civilians killed in airstrikes 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 bomb the Taliban in 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 candy man but you're killing more people than he is, at some point people are just going, well maybe we should just stick with the candy man the the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy. the candy man but you're killing more people than he is at some point people are just gonna be like alright alright well maybe we should just stick with the candy man at least he's got candy. What do you mean he doesn't have candy well then why do they call him the candy man? Why don't they just call him the killer man then? 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 trying 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 the Republic outcry? Were charges filed? No. For the most part, no one even really cared. 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 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. Most Muslims around the world condemn the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. But many consider the US 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 and arbitrary detentions, and air strikes that sometimes kill civilians, created this content in local communities and actually help the Taliban recruit more fighters. Kareem Khan, who's 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 gave 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're 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 thrown, th. thrown, thrown, thrown, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, tho, tho, thin, thin, thin, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thin, thin, thr. thr. thr. thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, tho, thr-a. thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, th 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, huh, 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's swayed by emotional arguments like bad to kill children, never forget that war. Even wars that you barely know are going on.

Well, you're 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 explained that's because the war was basically paid in debt and every day the cost of the Afghanistan war actually goes up. 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. The total cost they've estimated is the cost the the cost the the cost the the the cost the the the cost the cost the the the the the cost the the the the the cost the the the the the the the the the the the cost the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the cost the cost the cost the cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.coa.a.a. the the the the the the the the the the the final cost. We fought this war on credit and so this was mostly borrowed

money that we used to pay for the war. The total cost they've estimated is 2.261 trillion dollars. The Afghanistan war cost about 300 million bucks a day for two decades. It is an eye-opening number. Sweet Lord, 300 million dollars 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 dollars a day America could have made a new Fast and Furious movie every day for 20 years. Yeah we could be up to

Fast and Furious 7,000 by now. We're gonna 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. Never forget that it'll cost you a fortune. And most importantly, never forget that there are innocent people on the other side.

Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.

I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.