Watchdog’s Damning Report On War In Afghanistan Details Two-Decade Debacle

A damning report from a government watchdog finds the U.S. squandered $145 billion in Afghanistan over 20 years in a futile effort to impose Western democracy and values on a population it didn’t understand.

The 69-page autopsy from Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko cites missed opportunities, dependence on unreliable players, and a recurring inability to understand critical cultural and political nuances. The ill-fated, two-decade affair ended in debacle, with 13 U.S. service members killed and hundreds of Americans left behind when the U.S. abruptly pulled out in...