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Before pullout, U.S. government watchdog warned Afghan air force would collapse¹

Transcript²

NPR's A Martinez talks to John Sopko, special inspector³ general for Afghanistan Reconstruction⁴, about a declassified⁵ report that warned the Afghan air force would collapse without U.S. support.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Months before President Biden announced the U.S. withdrawal⁶ from Afghanistan last year, a government watchdog sounded an alarm. The Afghan air force was not ready to stand alone. Without continued American support, it would collapse. That is a takeaway from a newly declassified report. It was sent to the Department of Defense⁷ last January by John Sopko. He's a special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. He joins us now. Welcome back.

JOHN SOPKO: It's a pleasure to be here. Good morning.

MARTINEZ: Now, how crucial were Afghanistan's air forces in the fight against the Taliban?

SOPKO: It was probably one of the most important elements of the Afghan defense. Without the air force, they couldn't supply their own troops because the Taliban had cut all the roads. And it was extremely important for close air support to support this - Afghan soldiers in the field.

MARTINEZ: And they weren't alone. The U.S. was supporting them. How reliant were they on U.S. support, the air force?

SOPKO: Well, they were especially reliant on the U.S. contractors⁸ and enablers or trainers or mechanics, the people who kept the aircraft up and running. And we had been warning the Defense Department that without those contractors - and remember, that was part of the peace negotiation⁹ or withdrawal negotiation that all contractors, U.S. contractors, had to leave. And if that happened, we predicted the air force would collapse within a matter of months.

MARTINEZ: Now, in your report, you note that the Pentagon was trying to change that, to make the Afghan air force more self-reliant in the long term.

SOPKO: Yes, but even the air force admitted to us it would take about approximately 10 more years to do that.

MARTINEZ: Ten more years from when you issued the report. So...

SOPKO: In the 2030s, yeah. I mean, that hadn't gotten any better for years. I mean, we've been reporting this problem since 2013, the overreliance and the inability of the air force to stand on its own.

MARTINEZ: What did you wind up recommending? Because, yeah, you mentioned how we've known that since 2013, you put that in your report in January. So what did you recommend?

SOPKO: Well, we recommended that the Defense Department come up with a plan and implement¹⁰ a plan to support the air force, the Afghan air force. And obviously, as events unfolded, they did not. So the air force basically collapsed¹¹. So you have to ask the Defense Department why they didn't do that, but they knew, at least in January. But going back to 2013 that without U.S. and contractors and enablers, the air force would collapse. And they knew that if the air force collapsed, the Afghan military would collapse.

MARTINEZ: Well, John, you mention how, you know, we got to ask the Defense Department about why they didn't capitalize on your recommendations, but I'm wondering what your feel for it is. I mean, did they drop the ball? Did they just flat out refuse and say no, or we'll figure it out as we go?

SOPKO: No. I mean, the way the bureaucracy works is nobody ever says, no. They just don't do it. And that's the frustrating¹² thing. And this is only one of many reports that are still classified where we sounded warnings to the Defense Department or to state or USAID that if they didn't take into account what was happening on the ground, the Afghan government would collapse. And Congress has asked us actually to look at that right now. So we've got a number of jobs doing right now looking at why the government collapsed, why the military collapsed, how many weapons and materiel were left and whether money was stolen from the U.S. government right up to the collapse in August.

MARTINEZ: I was wondering, though, John, so you mentioned how you realized all this back in January, that that effort to make them more independent wasn't working. Could it be that, you know, one president was transitioning out, another was transitioning in and the timing¹³ of all that somehow, you know, made it a bad spot to be in?

SOPKO: Well, you'll have to ask them. You know, we just report the facts as we see them. Yes, there was a transition, but this had been a problem that - our own Air Force had alerted the Pentagon to serious problems with this. So I can't really answer that question. You'll have to ask the White House. You'll have to ask National Security Council or ask the Defense Department. We just reported it, and we kept reporting, kept ringing the bell that you had problems. And if you didn't face up to them and do something, and we gave specific recommendations, this - you would have a collapse of the Afghan military.

MARTINEZ: John Sopko is special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. John, thanks.

SOPKO: Thank you very much, a pleasure.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

4 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

5 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。