A US authorities watchdog on Friday accused the State Department and the Pentagon of suppressing data that lawmakers and the general public want to know the collapse of Afghanistan’s former authorities and army and the withdrawal of chaotic US forces.
John Sopko stated, “The full picture of what happened in August – and all the warning signs that could have predicted the outcome – will only come to light if the Departments of Defense and State have already restricted the public release.” Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
A State Department spokesman stated the division had requested that sure stories be eliminated “to reduce identifying information from the public record and protect the identities of Afghans and Afghan partner organizations” resulting from safety considerations concerning the evacuation effort. be eliminated quickly”.
“The identifying information is the only detail that is intended to be protected,” the spokesperson stated, including that Cigar has the best to revive the report.
The Pentagon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Addressing reporters, Sopko stated that after the Taliban captured Kabul, the State Department requested them to quickly droop on-line entry to sure stories issued to make sure the protection of US-linked Afghans .
“The department was not able to describe any specific threats to the individuals who were allegedly involved in our report,” Sopko stated, including that it “reluctantly” withheld entry to the paperwork.
The State Department, he continued, just lately sought revision of the remaining 2,400 objects on Cigar’s web site.
Sopco stated a few of the requests had been “bizarre”, such because the inclusion of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s title within the report.
After a overview, his company discovered that solely 4 objects had been worthy of correction, and left the rest accessible.
Noting that Congress tasked him with investigating the collapse of the US-backed Afghan authorities and army, he stated the Pentagon had since 2015 blocked the discharge of many information publicly on the request of the Ghani authorities.
Most of the data, together with casualty information and unit power, was “all you needed to know to determine whether Afghan security forces were a real combat force or a house of cards,” he stated.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
