Four intelligence agencies produced multiple reports on the future of Afghanistan, but none forecast the lightning march of the Taliban or predicted Kabul's swift collapse, says new review
Summaries of multiple intelligence reports on Afghanistan show how agencies failed to forecast the rapid collapse of Kabul
The Wall Street Journal obtained assessments dating back to April 2020
They offer an insight into the advice given to Presidents Biden and Trump as they weighed bringing home U.S. troops from the 20-year conflict
They said the Kabul government was unlikely to survive without foreign troops
But none said the Taliban would take Kabul by the middle of August
By Rob Crilly, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com
Published: 11:05 EDT, 28 October 2021 | Updated: 16:04 EDT, 28 October 2021
Extensive reports on Afghanistan produced by four U.S. intelligence agencies in the run-up to the withdrawal of foreign troops all failed to predict the speed at which the Taliban would capture Kabul, according to a review published on Thursday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10140841/How-U-S-intelligence-agencies-produced-reports-Afghanistan-missed-Kabuls-rapid-collapse.html