What is the importance of Azizabad in the nonfiction book, The Afghanistan Papers?

Azizabad is a village in the Shindand district of Herat province located in the southwest of Afghanistan. It is referenced in the book in the context of lamenting the US airstrike on the town that occurred on August 22nd of 2008, in which an American attack plane fired indiscriminately on civilians, killing 60 children and 30 adults who were sleeping in their homes at the time of the massacre. The airstrike was called in by US Special Forces and involved an AC-130 attack plane.

The massacre forced President Hamid Karzai to criticize the US military occupation, causing consternation in Washington, D.C. and further dividing the proxy Afghan government from its US sponsor. The Pentagon publicly defended the attack and refused to acknowledge the scale of civilian casualties.

The United Nations conducted an independent investigation into the massacre that confirmed the murder of civilians.