Islam Times - US generals misleading Congress, people on Afghan war

Islam Times - An active-duty US military officer has accused senior army officials of misleading the US Congress and the American people about the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

In his leaked report on the occupation of Afghanistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Davis says top US military officials have concealed the reality about the war on Afghanistan.

His accusations have sparked fresh debates and renewed criticisms of Washington’s real motives behind the invasion of Afghanistan.

Davis reportedly wrote two versions - one classified and one not - briefing four members of the Congress. Pentagon officials did not release the report, but the unclassified version was released by the website of the Rolling Stone magazine.

“As I will explain in the following pages I have personally observed or physically participated in programs for at least the last 15 years in which the Army’s senior leaders have either stretched the truth or knowingly deceived the US Congress and American public,” Davis explains in his introduction.

Davis’s report also describes the March 2011 Congressional testimony by General David Petraeus and the Defense Department’s April 2011 Report to Congress as either “misleading, significantly skewed or completely inaccurate."

He pointed out a significant increase in the number of militant attacks and the number of the killed and wounded soldiers since 2009.

Davis reiterated that in spite of the deployment of thousands of American soldiers in the volatile country the US war effort has failed and that the militancy has gained “strength” in Afghanistan.

"What I witnessed in my most recently concluded 12 month deployment to Afghanistan has seen that deception reach an intolerable low. I will provide a very brief summary of the open source information that would allow any American citizen to verify these claims. But if the public had access to these classified reports they would see the dramatic gulf between what is often said in public by our senior leaders and what is actually true behind the scenes,” Davis added.

However, deputy commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti dismissed the report as “one person’s view” of the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The United States waged a war on Afghanistan in 2011 following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York under the pretext of the war on terror.
Despite the prolonged presence of American forces in the war-torn country, Afghanistan has become a more insecure country where the Taliban have gained more power.