Recommended Reading: ‘The Afghanistan Papers’ – The Washington Post – Dec 9, 2019 (Update: Video Report)

The Washington Post published a series of articles on Dec 9, 2019 titled ‘The Afghanistan Papers’, based on internal findings by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which they gained access to after a 3 year legal struggle under a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request.

Quoting from the Introduction to these articles and sharing direct links to them.

Content Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com

A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

The documents were generated by a federal project examining the root failures of the longest armed conflict in U.S. history. They include more than 2,000 pages of previously unpublished notes of interviews with people who played a direct role in the war, from generals and diplomats to aid workers and Afghan officials.

The U.S. government tried to shield the identities of the vast majority of those interviewed for the project and conceal nearly all of their remarks. The Post won release of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act after a three-year legal battle.

Update added on 14-Dec-19: Adding the video report (which was published on Dec 9, 2019) done by Craig Whitlock, the Washington Post’s investigate reporter who’s brought all this information to light.

Video Source: Washington Post

Video direct url: https://youtu.be/Ac5D6og9Z54

Video Intro (by Washington Post):

For nearly two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. leaders have sounded a constant refrain: We are making progress. Government interview records obtained by The Washington Post after a three-year legal battle show otherwise.

THE AFGHANISTAN PAPERS
PART 1
At war with the truth
U.S. officials constantly said they were making progress. They were not, and they knew it.

PART 2
Stranded without a strategy
Bush and Obama had polar-opposite plans to win the war. Both were destined to fail.

PART 3
Built to fail
Despite vows the U.S. wouldn’t get mired in “nation-building,” it has wasted billions doing just that

PART 4
Consumed by corruption
The U.S. flooded the country with money — then turned a blind eye to the graft it fueled

PART 5
Unguarded nation
Afghan security forces, despite years of training, were dogged by incompetence and corruption

PART 6
Overwhelmed by opium
The U.S. war on drugs in Afghanistan has imploded at nearly every turn

INTERVIEWS AND MEMOS
Explore the documents
Key insiders speak bluntly about the failures of the longest conflict in U.S. history

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