More than 500 suspected Taliban fighters detained by U.S. forces have been released from custody at the urging of Afghan government officials, angering both American troops and some Afghans who oppose the policy on the grounds that many of those released return to the battlefield to kill NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians.
And those numbers understate the problem, military officials say. They do not include suspected Taliban fighters held in small combat outposts or other forward operating bases throughout the region who are released before they ever become part of the official detainee population.
An Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that President Hamid Karzai's government has personally sought the release of as many as 700 suspected Taliban fighters since July, including some mid-level leaders. "Corruption is not just based on the amount of money that is wasted but wasted lives when Taliban return only to kill more NATO forces and civilians," said the official, who opposes what he considers corruption in the Karzai administration.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Karen Davis, a spokeswoman in Kabul, told The Washington Examiner "nearly 500 detainees held in the [detention facility in Parwan] have been released outright or transferred to the [Afghan government] for disposition under Afghan law" so far this year.
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And those numbers understate the problem, military officials say. They do not include suspected Taliban fighters held in small combat outposts or other forward operating bases throughout the region who are released before they ever become part of the official detainee population.
An Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that President Hamid Karzai's government has personally sought the release of as many as 700 suspected Taliban fighters since July, including some mid-level leaders. "Corruption is not just based on the amount of money that is wasted but wasted lives when Taliban return only to kill more NATO forces and civilians," said the official, who opposes what he considers corruption in the Karzai administration.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Karen Davis, a spokeswoman in Kabul, told The Washington Examiner "nearly 500 detainees held in the [detention facility in Parwan] have been released outright or transferred to the [Afghan government] for disposition under Afghan law" so far this year.
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8 comments:
This is what you get when you have "professional students" running the US.
Picture yourself as a US soldier in Afghanistan, under such rules-of-engagement that you can do almost nothing unless you are shot at, then you watch the taliban that have been captured get released to go home and set another ambush for you.
Troop suicides are up-- has anyone noticed?
Anyone at the White House? Or are they too busy partying, vacationing and golfing?
12:47, I believe that it was McChrystal who largely shaped the current rules of engagement as apart of the counter insurgency strategy. I guess he's a "professional student" as well. Keep sticking to your convenient story lines.
2:55-- McChrystal resigned, right after publickly acknowledging what a bunch of idiots they were.
He was working for somebody, not calling his own shots.
easy fix for our servicemen and women. Take no prisoners !
Very sad commentary indeed! This Administration with its rank amateurs from the top down, still continues to amaze. What dolts!
God Bless our military, particulary those in harms way and subjected to failed leadership out of the White House.
We should be releasing them...we should be releasing their cold lifeless carcasses to their next of kin. If we fought a war like you are supposed to fight it, it would be two generations before any other country tested us. Rules of engagement only apply to us. We should wipe them out and come home.
Amen to 4:53. Start killing the bastards on the battlefield and this pproblem will go away.
Who are the troops defending in Afghanistan?
Why don't they refuse to obey illegal orders?
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