US intel questioned for misjudging Afghanistan, Ukraine

By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. intelligence officials acknowledge they misjudged the durability of the governments in both Afghanistan and Ukraine. A key senator on Tuesday raised questions about whether the intelligence agencies need to reform how they assess another military’s will to fight. U.S. intelligence believed the U.S.-backed Kabul government would hold out against the Taliban longer than it did and thought Russian forces would overrun Ukraine in a few weeks. Both assessments were wrong. The U.S. and Western allies are now rushing to aid Ukraine’s resistance against Russia in what has turned into a grinding, violent stalemate.