Many veterans share that skepticism, saying the Taliban can’t be trusted to fulfill the promises they made to the U.S.įennessy said he thinks the militants signed the Doha deal primarily to get U.S. plans to ensure the group will comply with the peace terms after U.S. they would disavow the terrorist group in exchange for the troop withdrawal.Īdd to that the fact that the Taliban has stepped up attacks on Afghan troops since the deal was signed, and it’s little surprise that lawmakers in Washington have questioned how the U.S. is ahead of schedule on the troop drawdown, talks between the Taliban and Afghan government, which were supposed to begin within days of the deal’s signing, have still not gotten off the ground, and the Defense Department has said the Taliban still has close ties to al-Qaida, despite assuring the U.S. “I think for many of us, we have stories of scenes and incidents that happened - a lot of tragedy and what can feel like wasted efforts.”īut the deal has so far not produced many of the results it was supposed to, at least on the Afghan side. “I honestly can’t speak to the overall tactical wins or losses, or whether that is what this conflict has even been about in the end,” she said. “But simultaneously, there is a sense of bitterness against the politicians and bureaucrats for big-picture incompetence.”įor Kristen Rouse, a logistics officer who deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, 20, it’s difficult to square the images of Taliban leaders posing for photos at a luxurious Doha hotel as they hammered out the peace deal with the Americans with “the evil they committed against innocent civilians.”Īnd after almost two decades of war, it was hard to figure out what had been accomplished, Rouse said. “That the soldier in question, alive or dead, did their job - they won the battle on the ground, as they were trained to do - there is comfort in that,” Fennessy said.

soldiers to go to waste, and by mistrust, worry and rage over the peace deal. While he is proud of what he and his fellow soldiers did in the country, those feelings are blurred by his anger toward leaders who have allowed the sacrifices of thousands of U.S. Séamus Fennessy, who fought in Ghazni province in 2010, said he feels a range of emotions - none of them positive - about the peace deal with the Taliban. invaded the country in October 2001, to destroy al-Qaida after the 9/11 attacks and oust the Taliban, who had harbored the terrorist group.Īrmy Staff Sgt. Afghans hurry to delete Aadhar-like digital IDs and biometric data, worry Taliban will misuse it (India Today).Just over 2,440 American service members have been killed in action in Afghanistan in nearly two decades of war, which started when the U.S. Terrified Afghans scramble to delete their digital history amid fears Taliban have seized Afghanistan's biometric database and will use it to hunt down 'enemies' (Daily Mail). WNU Editor: Everyone's is in a rush to erase their digital history. military’s biometric database on the Afghan population has been compromised. HIIDE devices contain identifying biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information, and are used to access large centralized databases.

military personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they contain could be used by the Taliban. The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special Operations Command official and three former U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept. Military Biometrics Devicesīiometric collection and identification devices were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive. The Intercept: The Taliban Have Seized U.S. An American ISAF solider from team Apache of Task Force Geronimo, 4th Platoon Delaware of the United States Army, collects biometric information from an Afghan villager in the village of Mans Kalay in Sabari, Khost district on August 4, 2012.

Taliban hiide afghansintercept