Thread by @JaneFerguson5

1. Astonishing, damning speech given by head of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (oversight committee on war) @SIGARHQ on efforts by @StateDept and @DeptofDefense to classify vital info on #Afghanwar since the fall of Kabul in Aug.... thread summary 👇

2. "..shortly after the fall of #Kabul, the State Dept wrote to me and other oversight agencies requesting to “temporarily suspend access” to all “audit, inspection, and financial audit...reports” on our website..." They claimed info on reports could endanger Afghan allies...

3. "But despite repeated requests, State was never able to describe any specific threats to individuals supposedly contained in our reports, nor did State explain how removing reports could possibly protect anyone since many were yrs old and extensively disseminated worldwide."

4. Demands to remove info have increased since fall of Kabul: "I received a second letter from State Dept. They said they had reviewed the relatively few materials remaining on SIGAR’s website and included a spreadsheet containing 2,400 new items they requested redacting."

5. This included the following bizarre request: "State asked we redact #AshrafGhani’s name from our reports. While I’m sure the former President may wish to be excised from the annals of history, I don’t believe he faces any threats simply from being referenced by SIGAR..."

6. "No audience better understands the dangers of limiting public access to info in the name of “security.” And simply because the war in #Afghanistan has concluded does not mean the American people – or its elected representatives – do not have a right to know the truth..."

7. For years, while @sigar has put out remarkably detailed, and deeply inconvenient truths, about the war in #Afghanistan, the @DeptofDefense has been able to order classified segments of those reports, hiding them from view of the public... for example..

8. "DOD restricted from public release a range of info going back to 2015 on the performance of the Afghan security forces, purportedly at the request of the Afghan govt. This included information such as casualty data, unit strength, training and operational deficiencies.."

9. "In essence, nearly all info needed to know whether the #Afghan sec forces were a real fighting force or a house of cards waiting to fall. In light of recent events, it's not surprising that the Afghan govt, and likely some in DOD, wanted to keep that info under lock and key."

10. "This info almost certainly would have benefited Congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made in #Afghanistan and, more importantly, whether we should have ended our efforts there earlier..."

11. "..Yet @sigar was forced to relegate this information into classified appendices, making it much more difficult for Members of Congress to access the information, and completely eliminating public and press access to and discussion of that information."

12. "..the bipartisan leadership of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and its National Security Subcommittee have formally requested that all information in @SIGARHQ classified appendices be declassified by the originating agencies."

13. "Likewise, the Admin should declassify and make available to SIGAR and Congress all internal DOD and State Dept cables, reports etc reflecting security situation on ground over last few years, especially those that differed from public statements of agencies in Washington."

14. "I sincerely hope we will have cooperation from every corner of the US govt as we undertake our work. @SIGARHQ's Twitter content was accessed over 2.2 million times in August, demonstrating that the American taxpayer not only deserve answers – they demand them."

15. "We also owe it to the families of the over 2,400 Americans who lost their lives supporting the mission in #Afghanistan to determine why the effort to build a strong, sustainable Afghan state failed so dramatically and disastrously."