Was there a drone strike obama did that blew up a school in afghanistan?
Executive summary
Available reporting and data show the Obama administration conducted many drone and air strikes in Afghanistan and neighboring theaters, with documented civilian deaths including strikes that hit civilian sites; however, none of the supplied sources state explicitly that President Obama personally ordered a drone strike that “blew up a school in Afghanistan.” Sources document a large drone program in Afghanistan and nearby countries and acknowledge civilian casualties and controversies around mistaken targets [1] [2] [3].
1. Obama’s drone footprint in Afghanistan: scale and oversight
The Obama years expanded U.S. use of drones and airstrikes in the region: researchers and government tallies show hundreds of strikes under his administration and a steady use of air attacks on Afghan battlefields rather than only in Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia; one account notes strikes in Afghanistan peaked around 2010 and the U.S. military ran the drone program inside Afghanistan [2] [4] [5]. The Council on Foreign Relations reported that within days of taking office Obama authorized strikes in Waziristan that killed civilians, demonstrating how early and decisively the administration leaned on remote strikes [1].
2. Civilian deaths and attacks on non‑combatant sites are documented — but specifics vary
Multiple sources emphasize that civilian casualties occurred and that some strikes hit civilian structures. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and other trackers record civilian deaths tied to strikes in Afghanistan and elsewhere; aggregate reporting indicates hundreds of civilian deaths across theaters and controversy over strikes that hit homes, weddings and other nonmilitary gatherings [2] [3]. Wikipedia’s synthesis of strike lists also records incidents and civilian tolls in Afghanistan, though it does not single out an Obama-ordered drone strike that destroyed a school [6] [5].
3. Claims about a school being “blown up” — what the sources say
The set of sources supplied does not contain a direct claim, investigative report, or named incident that states “Obama ordered a drone strike that blew up a school in Afghanistan.” While sources document strikes that mistakenly struck civilian gatherings and sites and record investigations and outcry over those incidents, none of the provided articles or databases identifies an event matching the phrasing “blew up a school” tied explicitly to an Obama-authorized drone strike (available sources do not mention a strike described exactly that way).
4. Why people conflate tragic civilian strikes with a direct presidential action
Journalism and policy analyses show the executive authorized and expanded targeted‑killing programs; legal memos and internal processes channeled strike approvals, and the president’s policies set the permissive framework that led to many strikes — which is why critiques and headlines often link specific civilian tragedies to presidential responsibility even when operational control may have been at lower command levels [4] [1]. Rights groups and commentators frame the drone program as a key element of Obama’s legacy because of cumulative civilian harm [7].
5. Disputed numbers and multiple perspectives on responsibility
Different trackers and analyses produce different tallies: official U.S. reports tallied hundreds of “strikes in areas of active hostilities,” independent groups report higher civilian counts in some years, and commentators range from defenders who stress counterterror gains to critics who call the program a central moral failing of the presidency [8] [2] [7]. Snopes and other fact‑checks have debunked or put in context some widely circulated numeric claims about the total number of strikes attributed to Obama, underscoring how raw figures are contested [8] [9].
6. How to verify a specific incident (recommended next steps)
To confirm whether a particular school was struck and whether the strike was ordered under Obama, consult detailed strike lists, investigative reports, or contemporaneous local reporting. The supplied list and reporting sources (strike databases, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CFR retrospectives) are the kinds of records that can corroborate named incidents; none of the current sources provided, however, documents an Obama-authorized drone strike explicitly destroying a school in Afghanistan (available sources do not mention that specific incident).
Limitations: This account uses only the supplied sources. If you have a date, district, or local media report about a school strike, I can cross-check it against the listed databases and articles to locate precise attribution and context (not found in current reporting).