Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom's Sentinel, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress, October 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

摘要

The Department of Defense (DoD) reported making various changes to its military strategy in Afghanistan during the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. Roughly 3,500 additional U.S. troops are being deployed to Afghanistan. At the end of the quarter, there were roughly 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. U.S. forces also exercised expanded combat authorities under the South Asia strategy. The expanded authorities allow U.S. forces to conduct offensive operations against the Taliban, rather than only engage with the militants in self-defense. In addition, U.S. and Afghan forces bombed Taliban drug processing facilities in an effort to cut off the insurgents' revenue streams. The overarching goal of the South Asia strategy is to apply a combination of military, diplomatic, and social pressure to drive the Taliban to enter into a reconciliation process with the Afghan government. It is too early to determine whether the increase in troops and expansion of their authorities will achieve this goal. Moreover, according to the United Nations, Afghanistan made no progress towards peace talks last year.