After Promises Of 'Transparency,' Pentagon Under Scrutiny For Troop Number Blackout
After quietly scrubbing troop numbers for Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria from the Defense Manpower Data Center’s website earlier this year, the Pentagon — which has repeatedly promised to improve “transparency” regarding troop statistics— is under renewed scrutiny over its public information blackout.
NPR’s David Welna reported Tuesday that the public Pentagon website that had, for more than a decade, provided information about the number of U.S. troops in war zones was still devoid of numbers for Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
When pressed to answer why these figures were no longer being made available to the public, Pentagon spokesman told Welna that it was to “protect our forces.”
“We have to make sure that the American people know what their forces are doing,” said Army Major Adrian Galloway. “But we have to protect our forces as well. And a part of that is making sure that we keep a handle on what information we release to the public in general.”
Galloway told Welna that the “approximate” number of troops currently in Afghanistan is 14,000 ― but said he could not provide the exact figure.
“I do know the real numbers, but unfortunately the real number is classified and I just can’t talk about it,” Galloway said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-promises-of-transparency-pentagon-under-scrutiny-for-troop-number-blackout/ar-AAzz0DX?li=BBnb7Kz
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