Published On: Tue, Jun 14th, 2011

Gen. Petraeus and the Phantom Capture of Thousands of Taliban Fighters

Contributed by: AllGov on June 14, 2011.

Doubts have surfaced over the claims by U.S. General David Petraeus that American military forces captured thousands of Taliban warriors in 2010.

Petraeus, then the top commander in Afghanistan, and soon to be the Director of the CIA, said late last year that 4,100 Taliban rank and file had been taken prisoner during the preceding six months. These numbers helped supporters of the war claim the U.S. was turning the tide in the fight against the enemy.

But Gareth Porter of Inter Press Service claims to have obtained documents from the Pentagon showing that more than 80% of the captured Taliban fighters were released within days of being picked up because they turned out to be innocent civilians. The news service added that a U.S. military commander, Admiral Robert Harward, told the media in November 2010 that 80% of the Afghans detained by the military during the entire year to that point had been freed within two weeks.

This is not the first time that Petraeus has been accused of playing loose with figures. Last year he boasted to The Wall Street Journal that Taliban attacks involving roadside bombs had “flattened.” However, Pentagon data showed that the number of Americans killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had actually increased over the previous year, as had the number of overall IED incidents.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

Ninety Percent of Petraeus’s Captured "Taliban" Were Civilians (by Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service)

Petraeus vs. The Numbers: Who to Believe about IED Attacks? (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

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AllGov - AllGov.com provides up-to-date news about more than 300 branches of the U.S. government, most of which operate under the radar of the media, even when they have annual budgets of billions of dollars. AllGov tells you what each agency says it does, what it really does, and who is making a profit from the agency. It also gives a history of the agency, illuminates controversies relating to the agency and shares critiques and suggested reforms from both the left and the right. The Meet Your Government section provides profiles of hundreds of department and agency heads, as well as ambassadors to and from the United States. The section on Nations gives basic information about each nation in the world and its relations with the United States, including which products and services Americans buy from and sell to the nation. AllGov’s News Pages highlight controversies in which the U.S. government is involved and keeps you up-to-date with changing policies, as well as appointments and resignations. AllGov.com is the place to find out everything about what the United States government really does. But it also gives users an opportunity to share their opinions and suggestions about what the government should be doing.