{"id":55238,"date":"2018-05-21T20:54:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T20:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/21\/watchdog-report-questions-us-claim-on-afghan-war-progress\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:06:12","slug":"watchdog-report-questions-us-claim-on-afghan-war-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/21\/watchdog-report-questions-us-claim-on-afghan-war-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog says US strategy in Afghanistan shows little result"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Trump administration\u2019s revamped Afghanistan strategy has made little progress against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/16\/dod-ig-too-soon-to-tell-if-trumps-south-asia-strategy-will-break-the-taliban\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">the Taliban insurgency<\/a>, leaving the country a \u201cdangerous and volatile\u201d place nearly 17 years after the U.S. invaded, a government watchdog report said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conclusion contrasts with assertions last fall by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/03\/mattis-reveals-new-rules-of-engagement\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">the American military<\/a> that the Afghans, with U.S. support, had \u201cturned the corner\u201d and captured momentum against the Taliban, which it called fractured and desperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report to Congress by inspectors general of the Pentagon, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development also cast doubt on the administration\u2019s decision to send a new set of military advisers this year to work with Afghan forces <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/12\/24\/new-in-2018-us-troops-return-to-the-front-lines-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">closer to the front lines<\/a>. It said this, combined with stepped-up Afghan offensives, \u201cfurther raises the risk of civilian casualties, insider attacks, U.S. casualties, and other conflict-related violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/08\/22\/trump-afghanistan-strategy-calls-for-more-troops-regional-pressure\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17234374659159.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump Afghanistan strategy calls for more troops, regional pressure<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">President Donald Trump has announced his plan for the future of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has about 15,000 support troops in Afghanistan providing military assistance but not in direct combat roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Citing a series of deadly Taliban attacks, including last week in the western province of Farah, bordering Iran, the inspector general report released by the Pentagon said there are few signs of significant progress by Afghan forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Taliban continued to hold territory and launched devastating terrorist attacks in Kabul and across the country,\u201d said Glenn Fine, the deputy Pentagon inspector general wrote in an introductory note to the report, which covered the three months ended March 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18120201646246.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-78297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18120201646246.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18120201646246.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18120201646246.jpg.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18120201646246.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Security forces run from the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, (AP Photo\/Massoud Hossaini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about the report\u2019s grim assessment, a Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Rob Manning, said officials believe \u201cchaos and progress can coexist\u201d in Afghanistan. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we feel is happening in Afghanistan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manning said the Afghan armed forces are making important strides. He cited as an example the support that the Afghan air force provided in an offensive undertaken in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/15\/air-force-a-10s-called-in-to-hold-off-taliban-attack-on-major-afghan-city\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Farah province<\/a> in recent days to defeat Taliban forces that had attacked the provincial capital and overrun several security checkpoints. Manning also said additional U.S. military advisory units had arrived in Farah to advise Afghan forces. He said the Afghan government is now in full control of Farah.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/10\/amid-little-scrutiny-us-military-ramps-up-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-911685756.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Amid little scrutiny, US military ramps up in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. is bolstering its military presence in Afghanistan, more than 16 years after the war started. Is anyone paying attention?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inspector generals\u2019 report agreed that Afghan security forces are improving but found they have made minimal progress toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/30\/stepped-up-violence-alternately-claimed-by-isis-and-taliban\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">securing the population<\/a>. It also said the number of Afghan fighting forces has continued to decline, raising concerns about their effectiveness. The number of active-duty Afghan troops stood at 313,728 at the end of January, it said, down from 331,708 a year earlier. The estimated actual number of troops is 11 percent below the target level of 352,000, a gap that reflects difficulties in keeping Afghan soldiers in uniform. The report said it also may reflect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/18\/report-after-failed-afghanistan-assault-taliban-promise-to-target-only-us-forces-from-now-on\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">high Afghan casualty rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration, in launching a new war strategy last August, said it was taking a regional approach to include Pakistan and making a bigger push to compel the Taliban to join peace talks. But Monday\u2019s report said there was little publicly available evidence that the actions to increase pressure on the Taliban were having a significant impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMilitarily, the (Afghan security forces) and U.S. forces continued air strikes and ground operations, but did not gain a significant amount of territory,\u201d the report said. \u201cOn the diplomatic front, despite suspending between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in planned security aid to Pakistan, that country did not take any significant action to eliminate terrorist safe havens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further complicating the outlook, the U.S. has accused Iran and Russia of interfering in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As further evidence of the volatile situation, the report noted that parliamentary elections scheduled for July have been postponed until October. It said this could make it difficult to hold the presidential election planned for 2019, and it questioned the extent to which balloting amid Taliban resistance will promote peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGiven that the Taliban views the Afghan government as a U.S. puppet, it is unclear how U.S.-supported elections would increase the legitimacy of the Afghan government in the eyes of the Taliban and would pressure the militants to reconcile,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Trump administration\u2019s revamped Afghanistan strategy has made little progress against the Taliban insurgency, leaving the country a \u201cdangerous and volatile\u201d place nearly 17 years after the U.S. invaded, a government watchdog report said Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":97772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,93,12,25,67,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2487],"class_list":["post-55238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"C7J7RSQVCJC5ZBEMQSV22HO4FE","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/21\/watchdog-report-questions-us-claim-on-afghan-war-progress\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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