Having long insisted that data on control of Afghan territory was “the metric that’s most telling in a counterinsurgency,”
the Pentagon has informed the US Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) that they will no longer be keeping
track of that at all, and won’t be providing that data to SIGAR.
SIGAR John Sipko was critical of the move, saying that the Pentagon was providing even less information for the American taxpayers to “gauge whether their investment in Afghanistan is a success.”
Pentagon officials, however, say that they now view the data to be “of
limited value” for decision making. The move is likely more about the
Trump Administration’s general policy of opaqueness, however.
Officials are hesitant to provide the public with any specific
information about US wars worldwide now, and with recent figures on
territory controlled in Afghanistan creepy dangerously close to 50%, it
is likely the Pentagon has decided to avoid media coverage of the point
where the Taliban controls more than half of the country by just not
telling anybody when it happens.
That is because effectively the Taliban controls Afghanistan.
No info on troops anywhere, missions, civilian casualties, mercenaries, no tax returns, no testimony. If the American people want to know anything, talk to his attorneys.
Running out of ways to say “losing”.
Quote: “President Trump and his Administration are committed to transparency and accountability throughout the government,” deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement. “The administration is responsive to public records requests, instituted new lobbying standards for political appointees — including a five-year ban on lobbying and a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign countries — and expanded and elevated ethics within the White House Counsel’s Office.”
That was from an article written in 2017. Nothing has changed – it’s gotten worse.
*Scene
*an old man sitting in a dim room with folding chair and empty card table
*Loud knock on the door.
*old man is shocked and confused jumps up
*two men in suites walk in
*old man “is… is there some progress?!?!
*man in the suite clears his throat, “no, we just came to let you know we no longer need your services.”
*disappointed the old man leaves.
and so the story of the progress in afghanistan come to a close
This seems to be Official-Speak for “Give us more money and STFU”
Graveyard of empires….
Of course if the US were “winning”, they would be crowing about it every day.