Lynzy Billing

Investigative journalist Lynzy Billing dives into her harrowing multi-year investigation of Afghanistan's CIA-backed Zero Units, exposing the brutal realities of night raids. She shares her personal journey, sparked by a family tragedy that led her to uncover the units’ shady operations and their tragic impact on civilians. Billing recounts shocking eyewitness accounts and the emotional toll on families left without accountability. With at least 452 civilian deaths attributed to one Zero Unit, she highlights the urgent need for reform and accountability amidst ongoing secrecy.

In 2019, investigative journalist and photographer Lynzy Billing went to Afghanistan to investigate a very personal story: her own past. In the process, she discovered what she came to call a classified war, one with lines of accountability so obscured that no one had to answer publicly for operations that went wrong.Lawfare managing editor Tyler McBrien sat down with Lynzy to talk through her four-year investigation, published last month in ProPublica. They discussed Afghanistan's shady Zero Units and their relationship with the CIA, the traumatic ripple effects caused by this lack of accountability, and why the U.S. continues to rely on a strategy of night raids, which Lynzy describes as quick, brutal operations that went wrong far more often than the U.S. has acknowledged. They also discussed why Lynzy decided to tell this story when few others would. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.