Pentagon operations often use military speak to hide that they often kill the wrong people with little to no accountability for the resulting trauma.

While the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) continues to allocate $3 million annually for the next decade to make condolence, or “ex gratia” payments to victims of civilian harm, the Department of Defense’s actual track record speaks volumes. No payments were reported in 2020 and just one in 2021.

Luul Dahir Mohamed and her daughter Mariam were killed in a 2018 U.S. drone strike in Somalia. Despite a military investigation acknowledging these deaths, there has been no compensation or apology. Abubakar Dahir Mohamed, Luul’s brother, has been tirelessly seeking justice, to no avail.

This pattern repeats across continents, from Somalia to Syria, where people are killed or shattered by U.S. military actions with no recourse for the survivors or families.