Glen Greenwald, of US based news outlet The Intercept made a sharp observation in a tweet: the "Khorsan Group" fraud is what originally justified Obama's Syria bombing".

Edward Snowden, the former CIA operative turned whistle blower and President of Freedom of the Press Foundation, a US based non profit organization dedicated to defending "adversarial journalism" and whistle blowers, commented on the economics of the bombing - emphasizing the cost of the MOAB as "$314,000,000" and that it was dropped "in the middle of nowhere".

Greenwald and Snowden, made erroneous and sloppy comments - the Islamic State of Khorasan group has little to nothing to do with the supposed "Khorasan Group" of Syria, it has an entirely different history/inception and Greenwald clearly mixed them up (and took down the tweet without comment).

The figure of $314,000,000, which appears to have been started by Snowden's tweet, was taken from a 2011 Los Angeles Times report about the creation of a different bomb altogether. The GBU-43 MOAB that was used in Achin actually cost $170,000 per bomb. The dollar amount used by Edward Snowden was a simple mistake, which could have been avoided if he had simply bothered to read the article he cited. The incorrect figure was then used by nearly every major media outlet across the globe, leading to debates over cost effectiveness - detracting from many other, more important issues. Such as the magnitude of the atrocity that has been committed against Afghans

Centering a dollar amount over human beings is bad enough, but more noteworthy was Snowden's reduction of Achin as "the middle of nowhere". Achin district has a population of 170, 000 - many of whom suffered the most unconscionable brutality under IS - K's brutal reign in the region - having witnessed beheadings, having their children taken away by the group to use as child soldiers and other heinous acts.

Nangarhar province itself has a population of between 1.5 -2.5 million - a figure hard to determine with Afghan refugees flooding back into the country after being expelled from Pakistan, which borders Nangarhar province. The capital of the province is Jalalabad, one of Afghanistan five major cities and economic hubs. Snowden's designation of Achin as the "middle of nowhere" does more than just reveal his ignorance about Afghanistan, but also his assumption that more value for money would have been obtained if only this $314,000,000 bomb was dropped in a more populous area.

IS-K is seen as foreign in nature to residents of Nangarhar due to the groups extremist interpretations of Islam and its use of ultra-violence. Although, IS in Achin and neighboring Shinwar districts appear to have begun with outsiders, presumably from Pakistan - the group quickly integrated into its surroundings. IS-K initially claimed they were in Achin to liberate the area from the Taliban, which they did before enforcing an even greater brutality than anyone had seen in last four decades of near perpetual violence.

In recent years, thousands of men from around the province have joined self organized armed groups and militias to push back against IS-K. Most active in Kot and Achin districts, local anti IS fighters coordinated with Afghan govt forces (ANA) and in many instances fought in coordination with the Taliban against IS-K. Throughout these years the local anti IS fighters requested basic aid from the Afghan central government and the US, but were largely ignored

By (dis)missing basic nuances, western media helps Afghanistan continue to be the US's "good war". By normalizing the use of the MOAB to "send messages" to other countries - the media continues to make Afghanistan and Afghan lives a mere backdrop to geopolitical games. By reducing areas like Achin to "the middle of nowhere", media personalities encourage a haphazard understanding of the country - which helps continue the idea there are only terrorists in Eastern Afghanistan. And this in turn allows the US, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others to continue experimenting inside the country with near impunity - sending their messages to one another - with the blood of Afghans.

Mohammed Harun Arsalai @ArsalaiH is an independent journalist and political activist from the Bay Area of California, and co-founder of the independent media project, Documenting Afghanistan. Currently based in his native Afghanistan, Mohammed has reported on U.S. social movements, police violence, and racism for Bay Area Intifada, which he co-founded.

His recent work focuses on refugees, the War on Terror, and militant groups operating in Afghanistan.