Trump's Pentagon Provides Fake News on Afghanistan

America's longest war in Afghanistan continues along its bloody path. Several presidents have now past the baton, all claiming the war was being won (whatever that means). At one time or another, all presidents (including Trump) thought about withdrawing totally from this country since the main objective, Bin Laden, has been killed.

We have had surges and troop removals, millions spent on training Afghans that are still unreliable allies in the field. But, in the end, America cannot admit to another major war defeat or even a draw. The Vietnam War did leave huge scars that mimic today's war. Just why are we there? How does this dirt poor country help America if it is Taliban free (which, will never happen)? Do we hope that it remains out of terrorist hands? Is that the only benefit of winning there?

President Trump, the king of fake news himself, has allowed his military leaders to use this tactic. On May 3rd, a Pentagon official described the Taliban as “desperate” because it is “losing ground.” It paints a picture that the U.S. is winning despite the fact it contradicts what a recent quarterly report called SIGAR.

The report cites:

• The Taliban controls and contests more districts since SIGAR started reporting in 2015.
• The Taliban control the largest percentage of the Afghan population than at any point during the war.
• Security incidents in 2017 were at the highest level ever recorded.
• The size of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) decreased by 11 percent.
• The Taliban have infiltrated the Afghan forces which accounts for more friendly fire attacks against Americans and Afghans.
• Losses among the Afghan army are high and only perform well if American or Coalition forces are present (this is identical to what plagued the Vietnam War).

Back in 2012, President Obama also touted that the Taliban were being broken and their momentum halted. If that was ever true, it has not lasted long. It seems nothing has changed.