The U.S. military will no longer release key metrics of success for the Afghan National Security Forces obscuring the public’s ability to scrutinize the war, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction revealed in a Monday report.
U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is to support the Afghan National Security Forces in the fight against the Taliban, build their capacity to keep the militants at bay, and eventually drive them to the negotiating table. This strategy almost entirely hinges on the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces to function with limited U.S. assistance.
Yet, bafflingly, the report reveals that the U.S. will no longer disclose “casualties, personnel strength, attrition, capability assessments, and operational readiness of equipment” of the Afghan National Security Forces. The Afghan National Security Forces are almost wholly subsidized by the U.S. military assistance, drawing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars since the 16-year war began in 2001.
U.S. Forces Afghanistan defended the decision to SIGAR saying they were classifying the data at the request of the Afghan National Government, who they claim is the original holder of the data.
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