Rand Paul grills Blinken on whether drone strike hit aid worker or ISIS-K: 'You'd think you'd kind of know before you off someone'GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Tuesday posed tough questions to Secretary of State Antony Blinken over a drone strike that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, pressing the top US diplomat on whether the Biden administration was fully aware of who was being targeted.
A recent New York Times report suggested that the strike, which the US military described as "righteous," mistakenly targeted an aid worker. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the strike took out an "imminent" ISIS-K threat.
"Was he an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" Paul asked Blinken.
"I don't know," Blinken said, adding that the strike was still being reviewed.
"You'd think you'd kind of know before you off someone with a predator drone," Paul said.
Paul underscored that there's been a problem with US drone strikes killing civilians under multiple administrations, warning that it leads to "blowback" that serves as a recruiting tool for extremist groups.
"If you killed an aid worker on accident ... do you think we're better off because of that?" Paul said, adding that it doesn't send a message of strength to the world................
https://www.businessinsider.com/rand-paul-grills-blinken-on-whether-drone-strike-hit-aid-worker-isis-k-2021-9