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Old 11-05-2020, 03:19 PM
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Arrow US military officials are refusing to answer a basic question about America's involve

US military officials are refusing to answer a basic question about America's involvement in Afghanistan
By: Jeff Schogol - Task & Purpose News - 11-05-20 4hrs ago
Re: https://taskandpurpose.com/news/us-m...tan-no-answers

The over-classification of any bad news about the Afghanistan war has become so ridiculous that the U.S. military is refusing to say publicly if the Taliban attacked any U.S. bases in the past three months.

Under a Feb. 29 agreement, the Taliban have pledged to not allow any of its members to “threaten the security of the United States and its allies.” In return, all U.S. troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by May if the Taliban meets certain conditions, such as preventing Al Qaeda from using the country as a base to attack the United States, the agreement says.

Despite this agreement, Camp Bastion and Camp Dwyer, both in Helmand province, were attacked by rockets in July and August, New York Times reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff first revealed. Unnamed U.S. military officials told the New York Times that they believed the Taliban was responsible for the attacks.

But when the top watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction asked if the Taliban had attacked any U.S. troops or bases in violation of the withdrawal agreement, the U.S. military retreated behind the veil of official secrecy.

“The question drew a classified response,” according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s most recent quarterly report. “DOD did confirm that as of October 11, no U.S. service members have been killed by hostile action in Afghanistan since the signing of the agreement.”

A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan declined to comment when Task & Purpose asked why information about enemy attacks was classified and referred questions back to the SIGAR report itself.

The over-classification of any bad news about the Afghanistan war has become so ridiculous that the U.S. military is refusing to say publicly if the Taliban attacked any U.S. bases in the past three months.

Under a Feb. 29 agreement, the Taliban have pledged to not allow any of its members to “threaten the security of the United States and its allies.” In return, all U.S. troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by May if the Taliban meets certain conditions, such as preventing Al Qaeda from using the country as a base to attack the United States, the agreement says.

Despite this agreement, Camp Bastion and Camp Dwyer, both in Helmand province, were attacked by rockets in July and August, New York Times reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff first revealed. Unnamed U.S. military officials told the New York Times that they believed the Taliban was responsible for the attacks.

But when the top watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction asked if the Taliban had attacked any U.S. troops or bases in violation of the withdrawal agreement, the U.S. military retreated behind the veil of official secrecy.

“The question drew a classified response,” according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s most recent quarterly report. “DOD did confirm that as of October 11, no U.S. service members have been killed by hostile action in Afghanistan since the signing of the agreement.”

A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan declined to comment when Task & Purpose asked why information about enemy attacks was classified and referred questions back to the SIGAR report itself.

“DOD also told SIGAR on October 13 that if Taliban violence continues at its ‘unacceptably high’ rate, ‘it could undermine the agreement,’” the report says.

Photo link: https://taskandpurpose.com/.image/c_...bd43331_k.webp

One sign of how the peace deal is faring is that the U.S. military launched more airstrikes between July and September to help Afghan troops fighting the Taliban, according to the report, which did not list the specific number of airstrikes.

The Air Force in February abruptly stopped publicly releasing its monthly reports on airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, the same month the United States struck its agreement with the Taliban.

But Task & Purpose obtained that information for March and April through a Freedom of Information Act request. That data shows airstrikes in Afghanistan dropped significantly in the first two months after the withdrawal agreement was reached.

The figures compiled by Air Forces Central Command show that the number of bombs dropped and missiles fired in Afghanistan dropped from 360 in February to 116 in March and then 27 in April.

In addition, the Islamic State terrorist group has also ratcheted up violence in Afghanistan. The group is believed to be responsible for several deadly attacks in Kabul, including a Nov. 2 assault on Kabul University, during which U.S. troops assisted Afghan security forces.

About this writer: Jeff Schogol covers the Pentagon for Task & Purpose. He can be reached via email at schogol@taskandpurpose.com or direct message @JeffSchogol on Twitter.
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