SIGAR: U.S. Risks Wasting Billions In Afghan Security Aid Given 'Inadequate Planning'

[True_Blue]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- The United States is at risk of wasting roughly $11.4 billion unless it comes up with a plan for constructing and maintaining nearly 900 Afghan National Security Forces facilities, according to a new report by a top federal watchdog. The news comes as U.S. President Barack Obama considers a military-backed proposal significantly boost the size of those forces.

The audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction concluded that the money is "at risk" because of "inadequate planning" and the lack of a "long-range construction plan" for the facilities. SIGAR began its investigation when the NATO mission in Afghanistan was unable to provide documents "describing the size, location or use of Afghan National Security Force facilities, such as Afghan National Army garrisons."

Since 2002, the international community has funded both the construction and ongoing maintenance of these facilities. According to the SIGAR report, "the government of Afghanistan does not have the financial or technical capacity to sustain ANSF facilities once they are completed."

The U.S. government has likewise outsourced part of that job, awarding a total of $800 million to in facilities-maintenance contracts to the ITT Corporation. As McClatchy notes, ITT received the contracts even though the "firm admitted in 2007 to sending classified materials to foreign nations, including China."



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27/sigar-afghan-aid-security-waste_n_814733.html