In short, he said, it was “nearly all the information you needed to determine whether the Afghan security forces were a real fighting force or a house of cards waiting to fall.” The Defense Department restricted the public release of information about “the performance of the Afghan security forces,” which included “casualty data, unit strength, training and operation deficiencies, tactical and operational readiness of Afghan military leadership, comprehensive assessments of Afghan security force leadership and operational readiness rates,” Sopko said. State Department watchdog opens new reviews into US exit from Afghanistan (Photo by Alex Edelman / AFP) (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images) Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images The US State Department is seen on Februin Washington, DC. He said the restriction of information by the Defense Department, which he said dated back to 2015, would have helped Congress and the public assess “whether we should have ended our efforts” in Afghanistan. Sopko has been a consistent and harsh critic of the way the Afghan war was conducted but his comments on Friday are likely to be scrutinized as lawmakers investigate the mistakes made in the conduct of the nearly 20-year conflict and its chaotic end. Speaking at the Military Reporters & Editors Association Annual Conference in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, Sopko called on the two departments to release all the relevant information. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko said, “The full picture of what happened in August – and all the warning signs that could have predicted that outcome – will only be revealed if the information that the Departments of State and Defense have already restricted from public release is made available.” The US government’s Afghanistan watchdog blasted the State and Defense departments for withholding critical information about their work in Afghanistan that “almost certainly would have benefited Congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made.”
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