Gareth Porter or David Petraeus? The question they are trying to answer is how many Taliban were captured in 2010. Porter thinks that the correct number is quite a bit lower - 80%, in fact - than Petraeus originally said. Petraeus did include everybody captured.
The problem is that not everybody captured was a member of the Taliban; within a few days 80% of those captured were released because they were simple innocent civilians. Later more were released when their bona fides were not good enough to convince a military panel that those accused were Taliban. In a November 30 briefing it was admitted that "80 percent of the Afghans detained by the U.S. military during the entire year to that point had been released within two weeks".
The problem is that not everybody captured was a member of the Taliban; within a few days 80% of those captured were released because they were simple innocent civilians. Later more were released when their bona fides were not good enough to convince a military panel that those accused were Taliban. In a November 30 briefing it was admitted that "80 percent of the Afghans detained by the U.S. military during the entire year to that point had been released within two weeks".
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