Afghanistan Data Being Concealed By US Government: Watchdog
NDTV
A State Department spokesperson said the department had requested "some reports be temporarily removed To protect identities of Afghans.
A US government watchdog on Friday accused the State Department and Pentagon of suppressing information that lawmakers and the public need to understand the collapse of Afghanistan's former government and military and the chaotic US troop pullout.
"The full picture of what happened in August - and all the warning signs that could have predicted the outcome - will only be revealed if the information that the departments of Defense and State have already restricted from public release is made available," said John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR).
A State Department spokesperson said the department had requested "some reports be temporarily removed to redact identifying information from public records and protect the identities of Afghans and Afghan partner organizations" due to security concerns about the evacuation effort.
"The identifying information are the only details intended to be shielded," the spokesperson said, adding that SIGAR has the authority to restore the reports.
