‘We are going to do that once more’: Watchdog warns US realized no lesson from Afghan battle as govt swept failures underneath the rug

The US is on observe to repeat the failures of the Afghan battle sooner or later, a federal watchdog warned, saying few classes have been drawn from the 20-year battle as his newest report painted a “bleak” image for the war-torn nation.

John Sopko, the particular inspector normal for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), pointed to a sample of disastrously managed American wars over the a long time, telling reporters on Thursday that Washington is all however assured to make the identical errors once more, even because it extracts itself from the longest battle in US historical past.

“Do not imagine what you are advised by the generals, or the ambassadors, or individuals within the administration saying we’re by no means going to do that once more,” Sopko stated throughout a media briefing on his workplace’s newest quarterly report.

That’s precisely what we stated after Vietnam. We’re by no means going to do that once more. Lo and behold we did Iraq. And we did Afghanistan. We are going to do that once more.

NEW Quarterly Report: Cumulative appropriations for reconstruction and associated actions in #Afghanistan since FY 2002 rose to $ 144.98 billion this previous quarterhttps://t.co/tT6ZAv37s2

— SIGAR (@SIGARHQ) July 29, 2021

Issued on Thursday, SIGAR’s replace highlighted a lot of troubling traits in Afghanistan because the US makes its exit, warning flurry of current positive factors by the Taliban may create an “existential disaster” for the federal government in Kabul in the event that they aren’t “addressed and reversed.”

“The information popping out of Afghanistan this quarter has been bleak,” the report stated, including Taliban offensive that started within the spring accelerated over June and July and left authorities forces “stunned and unready.”

President Joe Biden has set a September 11 withdrawal deadline for US forces, extending a Could date initially agreed between the Taliban and the prior administration. The Pentagon, nonetheless, stated earlier this month that the exit was forward of schedule and greater than 90% full.

Whereas Normal Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, advised lawmakers in late June that the Taliban managed round 81 of Afghanistan’s 419 districts, lower than a month later the group managed about half of the nation, or “greater than twice as many [districts] as earlier than,” the report stated. The federal government, nonetheless, continues to carry all 34 provincial capitals, together with Kabul.

Although the Taliban has continued to keep away from assaults on US and coalition forces, violence towards native troops has skyrocketed, seeing greater than 10,400 assaults between March and Could, or round 1,000 greater than the identical interval final yr. The figures for 2021 are greater than three,000 increased than 2019’s. 

Corresponding with the uptick in assaults, the interval between Could and June additionally noticed civilian casualties hit a “report excessive,” the report added, citing the UN Help Mission in Afghanistan.

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Regardless of years of drug eradication efforts underneath the Donald Trump administration – specifically by its ‘Iron Tempest’ operation, which noticed ramped up strikes on narcotics labs alongside a spike in civilian casualties – Afghan poppy cultivation was up 37% in 2020 over the earlier yr. Used to provide opium and heroin, the poppy crops have been most closely concentrated in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, each Taliban strongholds. 

With $ three.three billion put aside for Afghan safety forces in President Biden’s 2022 funds request, and one other $ 6.7 billion already ready to be disbursed, Washington is ready to stay deeply concerned within the nation. Nevertheless, Sopko warned that if the present traits persist, success will stay elusive, saying officers are susceptible to brush failures underneath the rug.

“We principally compelled our generals, compelled our navy, compelled our ambassadors, compelled the [United States Agency for International Development] USAID to attempt to present success in brief timelines which they themselves knew have been by no means going to work,” he stated, including that when the federal government may not disguise the shortage of progress, “they categorized the evaluation instrument.”

So, they knew how dangerous the Afghan navy was. And when you had a clearance, you would discover out, however the common American, the common taxpayer, the common congressman, the common individual working within the embassy wouldn’t know the way dangerous it was.

Although the complete prices of the Afghan battle might be as excessive as $ 2.2 trillion, in keeping with Brown College’s Prices of Conflict challenge, the SIGAR report concluded that Afghanistan “stays poor, aid-dependent, and conflict-affected,” suggesting Washington has little to indicate after 20 years of combating and numerous billions spent on reconstruction efforts.

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