During the recent Taliban commando attack in seven places all over Afghanistan the western military command of ISAF lauded the Afghan security forces for being able to fight off the attack. During the attack ISAF issued a press release:

Afghan National Security Forces responded to a series of attacks today in Kabul and in a few outlying provinces.
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Afghan Crisis Response Units, along with Afghan police and army forces, deployed to repel the attacks that resulted in light casualties while killing or capturing many of the suicide attackers in a matter of hours.
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ISAF quick reaction forces were prepared to respond if required but were not needed.

Later the ISAF commander General Allan issued a statement:

I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to today's attacks in Kabul. They were on scene immediately, well-led and well-coordinated. They integrated their efforts, helped protect their fellow citizens and largely kept the insurgents contained.

The fighting goes on this evening, and ISAF is standing by to support our Afghan partners when and if they need it. I consider it a testament to their skill and professionalism – of how far they've come – that they haven't yet asked for that support.

From those two statements one would assume that the Afghan forces were able to solve the situation on their own.

Well – ISAF obviously lied:

Western contractors heard the gun battle and saw the insurgents ascending through the brick building partially shielded by scaffolding and billowing curtains of green mesh. Some of the Westerners grabbed their weapons and started firing on the militants, according to witnesses.
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Back in the city's diplomatic neighborhood, Norwegian special-operations forces military mentors working with another team of specially trained Afghan forces sought to bring the attack to a rapid end.
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As night fell, according to a participant in the response, a small contingent of British Special Operations Forces moved in to help.
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Around 2:30 Monday morning, a pair of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters dipped over the Kabul mountains and zeroed in on the insurgent-held building in the diplomatic quarter, unleashing sustained machine-gun fire. For more than three hours, the Blackhawks circled back for at least six more attacks, marking the first time the U.S. military has used such firepower in Kabul since Taliban fell in 2001.

A member of the Afghan parliament from Kandahar also joined the fight (video).

We asked what ISAF was smoking when, a few days before the attack, it said that there was no sign of a Taliban spring operation.

Independent of what one might think of the whole operation in Afghanistan such stupid remarks and the constant stream of false statements from ISAF do nothing but hurt the effort it is supposed to fulfill.

ISAF's false happy talk increases distrust of all involved people towards their own government and to the U.S. as leading force in Afghanistan. It is no wonder that Australia and France, usually staunch U.S. allies, want to pull out earlier than planned.

Even more important – these constant lies are an impediment of our democracies. While we can expect that politicians misinform voters they have at least some competition that helps to uncover their lies. But when the military commanders misinforms the electorate there is no one who can easily disprove their statements. How can the sovereign, the people, freely decide about wars when its employees lie about the state of the war affairs?

One wonders if what is behind ISAF's lies is sheer incompetence or some nefarious intend.