The US government should reconsider whether to spend more on reconstruction aid in Afghanistan, the US watchdog that monitors the funds said on Wednesday, citing Afghanistan's persistent corruption and inability to manage projects as US troops withdraw.
John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, said $20 billion in US assistance for Afghanistan had been appropriated but not yet spent. Nearly $10 billion more in aid may soon be approved by Congress. Sopko asked whether any of this money should be released. A growing number of projects built with US assistance in Afghanistan are now in insecure areas as US troops withdraw, putting them beyond the reach of American auditors to safely visit, he said.
"We have the opportunity to hit the pause button" as US troops are pulling out, Sopko told a House of Representatives committee. "It's an important opportunity to stop and reassess all of that money that hasn't been spent, and make the determination, is it worth the risk?"
"There may be a reason to push the money out the door for a particular project or program ... . But at least justify it," he said, speaking to the national security subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel. Sopko's remarks came amid growing questions over US spending on Afghanistan.
The subcommittee chairman, Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, said it was especially distasteful for Washington to be sending taxpayers' money to "the most corrupt government on the face of the planet" in a time of fiscal scarcity at home. Afghanistan is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries. The inspector general's audits have pointed out numerous weaknesses in the oversight of US reconstruction aid to Afghanistan, which is approaching a $100 billion over a decade of war. Much of this money has gone to help train Afghan military forces.
One of the US agencies that provides assistance in Afghanistan issued a statement after Sopko spoke defending the programs, saying they had helped Afghanistan make "dramatic" development progress over the last decade. The statement from the US Agency for International Development, which oversaw about $1.9 billion in assistance in Afghanistan last year, also said that the agency carefully scrutinizes the recipients.
"US AID has conducted rigorous assessments of all ministries that receive US AID funds" said the statement by Alex Thier, the assistant to the administrator for the office of Afghanistan and Pakistan. "If the assessments identify vulnerabilities, US AID helps the ministry address the issues before they are eligible to receive funds." President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would withdraw 34,000 troops - about half the US forces in Afghanistan - by the end of this year.
Comments
Comments are closed.