An executive summary was released today regarding the October Taliban attack on Combat Outpost Keating, a Nuristan Province base. The attack was driven back, but not before eight Americans were killed.
But while the military’s report praised the troops “gallantry, courage and bravery” in the clash, it cast serious doubt on why the troops were put there in the first place, noting that the outpost had “no tactical or strategic value” and was virtually undefendable.
US troops abandoned the base just days later, with commanders insisting they had planned to abandon it all along. It is now clear why, the base was “a sitting duck.”
According to the report, officials wanted to close the facility as soon as they could, but commanders repeatedly delayed the closure, leaving the Americans as a target for the attack that eventually came. The incident was one of several the US military is investigating over failures by commanders.
