Thursday, January 31, 2013

How Afghan Aid Money Is Being Wasted Or Stolen

'Incalculable Waste' In U.S.-Paid $100 Billion Afghan Fund -- Washington Examiner

The unprecedented $100 billion program slated to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan has been ravaged by theft, cost overruns, bribes, unused facilities and "incalculable waste," and now the federal auditor of the reconstruction effort is urging Congress to make sure taxpayers are getting their money's worth before spending more.

But, warned an urgently written quarterly report to Congress from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, even if Congress gives the OK, auditing how Afghanistan spends the largest rebuilding fund in U.S. history will be difficult after American troops leave in October 2013.

Read more ....

My Comment: I have commented before that even if a trillion dollar Afghan aid fund was set up .... within a decade the money will be gone and there will be very little if anything to show for it. The culture of corruption, tribalism, sectarianism, and a long history of conflict are the root problems for Afghanistan. And while I do expect Afghanistan to one day rise from this mess .... it will do so on it's own terms and over a long period of time .... and $100 billion government aid packages will not expedite this process.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's website is here.

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