While U.S. military operations in Afghanistan come to a close, American spending in Afghanistan continues with billions in foreign aid and reconstruction dollars flowing into the country.
In a new report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which has oversight on how U.S. tax payer's dollars are spent, describes deeply troubled programs currently underway in the country.
SIGAR head John Sopko reports many of these programs have been looked at overly optimistically with evaluations that, "displayed a tendency to elevate good news and anecdotes over data suggesting a lack of progress."
The new report looks at three specific issues.
The first, the status of recommendations SIGAR previously made in regards to the misuse of nearly $500 million due to compliance with laws and regulations. The second issue looked at is why USAID's $10 million jobs creation program has not met expectations and the third examines how fuel management responsibilities were turned over to the Afghan government.
During the reporting period covered by the SIGAR report, three contractors plead guilty, settled, or were sentenced for crimes involving millions of dollars of fraud in Afghanistan.
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In conversations with the press, Sopko has been even blunter than his SIGAR reports.
“Every time we took a look at the assessment tools, our U.S. military would change the goal posts and say, ‘Oh no, no, that’s not the test you want to do,’ to raising serious questions about the sustainability of all this high-tech hardware we gave them,” Sopko said at a press event, according to Military Times.
SIGAR employees remain in Afghanistan, continuing their oversight efforts as the Taliban increases the territorial control of the country.
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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