In an extraordinary and eye-opening interview, John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), speaks candidly and angrily, at times, about what he calls the State Department’s unprecedented obstruction when it comes to tracking all the US taxpayer money being sent to Afghanistan.
The account makes the case that federal agencies, in some instances, are largely out of the control of those tasked with overseeing their actions.
Highlights:
- The SIGAR estimates about a third of US taxpayer money sent to help Afghanistan over the years was wasted. That amounts to more than $48 billion of the $145+ billion total in August 2021.
- The percentage being lost to waste, fraud and abuse today “could be worse” since there are no US officials on the ground in Afghanistan assisting with tracking.
- Approximately $8 billion dollars in US taxpayer money has been given for the Afghan people since the failed US withdrawal and takeover by the Islamic extremist Taliban two summers ago.
- There’s evidence the Taliban government is diverting US taxpayer money, but it’s impossible to know how much “in part because of the refusal of the State Department and [US Agency of International Development] to answer a lot of our questions. So we don't know how bad it is.”
- The State Department is showing “the worst” cooperation the SIGAR has seen in the 12 years working at his position. “It’s pretty outrageous.”
- The State Department told some of international non-government organizations in Afghanistan “not to talk to" the SIGAR. “So it wasn't just that the State Department wouldn't give us the information, the State Department was telling some of these international organizations ‘Don't talk to SIGAR,’ which is a clear violation of the law.”
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