July 10, 2018
Pentagon Questioned Over Blackout On War Zone Troop Numbers
For more than a decade, if you wanted to know how many U.S. troops there were in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, you could readily find that information at a public Pentagon website that's updated every three months.
But since late last year, the Pentagon's stopped posting those numbers for Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
That public information blackout, along with the recent suspension of Pentagon reports on airstrikes and collateral damage in Afghanistan, has some lawmakers on Capitol Hill raising red flags.
"What's your view on the detail of the information that should be released?," Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed asked Lt. Gen. Scott Miller at his June 19 confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
Miller assured Reed, the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Democrat, that if confirmed, he would be "very transparent" about what's going on in Afghanistan during appearances before Reed's oversight panel. Listen to this story and more from NPR
More from CNAS
-
The Role of County Veteran Service Officers
Reports
Executive Summary This assessment examines the role of county veteran service officers (CVSOs) throughout the United States. The report highlights the services and support ava...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski, Nathalie Grogan & Elena LoRusso
-
Don’t Ask Us to Serve
Commentary
Since the repeal of DADT, the lives of queer servicemembers have improved, but major challenges remain that threaten to undermine these gains and stall further progress....
By Cody Kennedy
-
Closing the Gaps Between Servicemembers and the American Public
Commentary
We have been a nation at war — sort of. Due to the longest wars in American history being shouldered by a tiny percentage of the population, the vital civil-military relations...
By Nathalie Grogan
-
Afghanistan Veteran Says War Might be Over for U.S. but Not for Afghans
Video
Jason Dempsey, an adjunct senior fellow of the Military, Veterans, and Society program at the Center for a New American Security, and a military veteran deployed twice to Afgh...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
