US-led forces rebuked for making Afghan troop evaluations secret
2 Nov 2014 5:01 AM IST
John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, said in a quarterly report to Congress on Thursday that his office was ‘deeply troubled’ by the decision to classify the executive summary of the report that assesses the capability of ANSF, the Afghan National Security Forces.
‘ISAF’s classification of the report summary deprives the American people of an essential tool to measure the success or failure of the single most costly feature of the Afghanistan reconstruction effort,’ Sopko said in the report. The International Security Assistance Force’s combat mission is due to end this year.
Sopko said the need to carefully monitor the development of the ANSF was underscored in August, when Afghan soldier shot dead U.S. Major General Harold Greene, the most senior U.S. military official killed in action overseas since the war in Vietnam. The U.S. has spent $61.5 billion to prepare ANSF, the report said.
‘SIGAR and Congress can of course request classified briefings on this information, but it’s inexplicable classification now and its disappearance from public view does a disservice to the interest of informed national discussion,’ he said in the report.
‘ISAF’s classification of the report summary deprives the American people of an essential tool to measure the success or failure of the single most costly feature of the Afghanistan reconstruction effort,’ Sopko said in the report. The International Security Assistance Force’s combat mission is due to end this year.
Sopko said the need to carefully monitor the development of the ANSF was underscored in August, when Afghan soldier shot dead U.S. Major General Harold Greene, the most senior U.S. military official killed in action overseas since the war in Vietnam. The U.S. has spent $61.5 billion to prepare ANSF, the report said.
‘SIGAR and Congress can of course request classified briefings on this information, but it’s inexplicable classification now and its disappearance from public view does a disservice to the interest of informed national discussion,’ he said in the report.
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