How Post-9/11 America Set Off the World’s Horrific Drone Wars

After a deadly attack that killed 13 American Marines and more than 100 Afghans at the Kabul airport last month, the U.S. launched drone strikes against members of what it said were ISIS-K, the group responsible for the terrorist attack. The first drone strike was on Friday, Aug. 27, followed by a second attack on Aug. 29. America then proudly took credit for these attacks, in which it used a unique Hellfire missile known sometimes as a “flying Ginsu,” named after the blades it uses to kill its target rather than explosives.

The first attack appeared to demonstrate the precision targeting for which drones are designed. But the attack two days later, on a vehicle suspected to belong to the ISIS-K group, was an utter disaster. Among the victims were 10 members of a single family, including six children between the ages of 2 and 12. Grimly, some of them were waiting for visas to join American evacuation flights; one of them had actually worked for American forces. The weapon that…