The unbiased work group tasked by Congress with making a definitive accounting of the conflict in Afghanistan has launched a primary report on its work — and it reveals it’s already encountering hurdles that might jeopardize its skill to ship within the appointed timeline.
The 57-page interim report, revealed Aug. 22, lays out a timeline for its work via 2026, and highlights three main analysis priorities: establish overarching targets for Afghanistan and their results on fight operations; consider the effectiveness of navy operations in attaining coverage targets; and study the work to man, prepare and equip the Afghan navy, and “the circumstances resulting in their disintegration in 2021.”
In evaluating the successes and failures of the 20-year conflict, although, workers are realizing they’ll must course of a big quantity of paperwork categorised on the highest stage. And that represents a problem for the civilian-run fee, one primarily based out of a headquarters constructing in an Arlington, Virginia excessive rise, not a authorities compound.
The report signifies that a few of the fee’s 51 full-time workers and commissioners are nonetheless securing the safety clearances wanted to deal with categorised supplies. And whereas its leased workplace house is licensed for operations on the Secret stage — the center of the three clearance echelons — it doesn’t have a reserved and devoted house for reviewing paperwork on the High Secret stage.
“The fee appreciated the prioritization positioned by the Workplace of Senate Safety on clearance processing for commissioners and workers,” the report states.
However it provides that it nonetheless requires categorised IT help, a necessity conveyed to the Protection Division in February that also stays unfilled.
“Specifically, the fee has an acute want for the well timed provision of computer systems that may retailer and course of data as much as the [Secret/No Foreign Nationals] stage, on which a lot of the fee’s work will likely be drafted,” the fee’s report notes. “Relatedly, the fee requires computer systems that may retailer and course of data as much as the [Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information] stage to finish its analysis and evaluation of extra delicate materials.”
The fee, based on the report, additionally lacks a devoted Delicate Compartmented Data Facility, or SCIF, a workspace outfitted to deal with materials of all classifications with out danger of safety breach. It expects to get a leased house later in September via an association with the Protection Division, and has till now been capable of work on a restricted foundation in safe areas owned by the Senate.
Finally, the fee’s tight timeline — to complete all analysis and interviews and ship a complete written report with its findings in August 2026 — is in danger, the interim report warns.
“Whereas the fee is inspired by the Division of Protection’s efforts so far, any additional delay in reaching an answer will adversely impression our skill to ship the thorough accounting of the Afghanistan Struggle that the American folks deserve,” the report’s authors write. “The well timed decision of this situation is important to the profitable execution of the fee’s mandate.”
In a press release to Navy Instances, fee spokesman Matthew Gobush declined to say what number of commissioners and workers nonetheless wanted to acquire safety clearances. He additionally demurred from discussing alternate options to the fee’s acknowledged timeline.
“The fee is working carefully with the Division of Protection on excellent gadgets pertaining to operational readiness,” Gobush mentioned. “We consider [DOD] is appearing in good religion. As famous within the report, we’re inspired by the progress made so far however proceed to strategy the requirement with a way of urgency. We absolutely intend to ship the great, detailed report that Congress commissioned and the American folks deserve by the statutory deadline.”
The interim report presents new details about the make-up of the fee’s workers staff as nicely. Of 35 full-time workers, 18 maintain analyst positions. Two workers every have analysis and writing-focused titles. Different jobs embrace specialists in navy operations, intelligence evaluation, diplomacy and Afghanistan outreach.
The caliber of the workers and commissioners is spectacular. Members embrace writer Anand Gopal, a finalist for the Pulitzer and the Nationwide E book Award; Chris Molino, who together with relations spent a complete of 159 months serving in Afghanistan; and former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Thus far, based on the interim report, the fee has held conferences with 20 senior authorities officers and been briefed by greater than 30 places of work within the Protection Division, State Division, and different authorities entities.
However with 29 particular points of the conflict to research and canopy, plus an extra requirement to evaluate the U.S. navy’s counter-corruption and counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan, the scope of the challenge more and more comes throughout within the report as unwieldy. It makes use of the phrase “formidable” 3 times, and “daunting” as soon as to explain its process.
“It’s vital that we get this work proper to grasp what occurred in Afghanistan, but additionally to rationalize it inside our broader society,” Commissioner Luke Hartig, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the Nationwide Safety Council, mentioned in a press release revealed within the report.
However whether or not the fee has the time and sources essential to get it proper seems extra in query now than ever.
