By U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6801702/afghanistan-evacuation, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109296374

Since before the final disastrous Biden retreat from Afghanistan on August 31, the State Department (State) has been systematically removing from public view or reacting over 100,000 pieces of online content on Afghanistan, ostensibly to protect Afghan identities from Taliban retribution.

State made a similar request to the Defense Department, spokesman John Kirby confirmed Monday, resulting in the removal of 124,000 images and 17,000 videos from the DVIDS site.

However, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) isn’t buying the State Department story.

Speaking at the Military Reporters and Editors conference, John Sopko told reporters that the State Department has requested some reports be taken down from SIGAR’s site, or some reports redacted. He added:

As we report in today’s quarterly report, shortly after the fall of Kabul, the State Department wrote to me and other oversight agencies requesting that we, quote-unquote, temporarily suspend access to all of our audit inspection and financial reports.

He continued:

The protection of Afghans and legitimate risk of harm is not an issue to quibble over, and something our agency is respected over the 10 years that I’ve been there. But despite repeated requests, the State Department was never able to describe any specific threats to individuals that were supposedly contained in our reports. Nor did State ever explain how removing our reports now from public dissemination would possibly protect anyone, since many of those reports were years old, and already extensively disseminated worldwide.

Military Times reported Sopko as saying that “he initially accepted the request and pulled down reports, at the height of the evacuation, thinking the request would be temporary. But recently, he added, State sent him another letter, requesting another 2,400 items to remove.” It added:

One of the requests, he said, was to remove any mention of Ashraf Ghani ― the Afghan president who escaped as the Taliban closed in on Kabul ― from the SIGAR site.

“Now, I’m sure President Ghani may wish to be excised from the annals of history, but I don’t believe he faces any additional threat, or is there any threat to any other Afghan by mentioning his name in our reports,” Sopko said. 

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Comments

  1. We can NO LONGER TRUST ANYTHING OUT OF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT. TRULY TRAGIC TIMES, THAT AREN’T GOING TO END WELL.

  2. Taking down SIGAR Investigative Reports done by Mr Sopko that were World Class and very detailed for the Afghanistan War sounds like a Biden State Department cover up and cover our ass move! This is the same Biden State Department that did not care about its US Citizens or Foreign Service Nationals! What a major Clusterfxck by Biden, Harris, the Department of State and Department of Defense! All should be fired!!

    1. I’m afraid it’s WORSE THAN THAT.
      These problems go FAR beyond “incompetence”.
      The amount of EVIL Upon the World now is UNPRECEDENTED.

      1. The phrase they like to use is ‘god before country’. This really means ‘ VATICAN before the USA’. This is TREASON. The word TRAITOR was carefully picked, and accurately so.
        The “C” traitors say that Trump the American patriot has ‘orange hair’. This means he is not one of their fellow “C” traitors. Hitlery has been in bed with the Catholics for 40 years. Hitler was Catholic, and see what he did for Germany.
        Remember NAFTA that Bill signed. When NAFTA was signed, money and jobs went straight to the VATICAN with a giant sucking sound, and the Clintons bank account just got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

        1. Hitler was likely RAISED Catholic but the demented old fool abandoned Christianity and forgiveness to embrace the ancient Germanic idol of REVENGE. This is why he got along so famously well with Islam.

  3. Has the government ever suspended anything they say is only temporary? No it’s always become permanent. Temporary tax increases are just one of many. Add 2 weeks to flatten the curve. Now it’s mandates to wear masks to get shots of Covid to lockdowns all supposed to be temporary

  4. No part of the Executive Branch, including the so-called president has been trustworthy since January 20. This executive branch seems bent on tearing the existing institutions and laws to shreds. If it continues, our great constitutional republic might fall.

    The cause clearly is some outsider or group has the president under complete control and hopes to transform the U.S. into a communist regime with a small group of aristocrats taking charge of all the wealth and all the people.

  5. Catholics have controlled the USA since 1956. Since then the USA has ‘won’ exactly zero in the way of anything from any peepsqueek failed province. The USA LOST Korea, LOST Viet Nam, LOST Somalia! Lost Afghanistan! It cannot get any worse! OOPS, yes it can! Now the USA is under attack by the ILLEGAL ALIEN CATHOLIC INVADERS from the south! Vote for ANY CATHOLIC and you fate is sealed. Be CATHOLIC or be dead. Look south for proof!

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