Aided by a crumbling economy, corrupt government and cuts in foreign military help, the Taliban controls more territory than at any time since 9/11, according to a new federal inspector general’s report.
The situation is so bad, added the new report, that it has become too dangerous for U.S. and even Afghan government officials to inspect some U.S. taxpayer funded projects, a huge problem in a country that has a reputation for bribery, theft and embezzlement of American funds.
In the 13th quarterly report to Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction also revealed that it has been asked to look into allegations that Afghan military forces are sexually abusing children.
The weighty report from Inspector General John F. Sopko, however, notes that efforts by the office have saved taxpayers over $2 billion in its job to make sure the $109 billion spent in Afghanistan goes to the right hands. He has often found that questionable, and in the new report said that State Department money has gone to towns under Taliban control.
The report released Friday provides a troubling assessment of Afghanistan’s economy and security and follows several other reports and individual investigations on waste. Three highlights stand out in the summary statement:
— Despite more than a decade of reconstruction and development efforts, the Afghan economy remains in fragile and worsening condition. Intractable insurgents, cutbacks in foreign military personnel, persistent emigration of people and capital, and a slowing global economy are shifting Afghanistan’s economic prospects from troubling to bleak.
— In this reporting period, Afghanistan proved even more dangerous than it was a year ago. The Taliban now controls more territory than at any time since 2001.
— The lack of security has made it almost impossible for many U.S. and even some Afghan officials to get out to manage and inspect U.S.-funded reconstruction projects. The dangers of absent oversight were exposed when a task force appointed by President Ashraf Ghani reportedly found that millions of dollars were being embezzled while Afghanistan pays for numerous nonexistent “ghost” schools, “ghost” teachers, and “ghost” students.
Other key elements of the new report summarized in the release:
— A group of 93 Members of Congress have asked SIGAR to conduct an inquiry into the U.S. government’s experience with allegations of sexual abuse of children committed by members of the Afghan security forces.
— Afghanistan’s domestic revenues paid for 40 percent of budget expenditures through the first 11 months of the fiscal year.The country’s large budget deficits and trade imbalances will require substantial donor aid for the foreseeable future.
— This quarter, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) assigned force strength was 322,638 (including civilians), this assigned-strength number reflects a decrease of 2,078 since July 2015 and 9,306 since May 2015.
— Since 2003, USAID has spent at least $2.3 billion on stability programs in Afghanistan. The findings of a USAID-contracted, third-party evaluation program on the impacts of its stabilization projects raise worrying questions. The MISTI program reported, for example, that villages receiving USAID stability projects scored lower on stability-an aggregate measure of whether the projects strengthened perceptions of good governance and effective service delivery-than similar villages that received no such assistance. And some villages reportedly under Taliban control that received USAID stability projects subsequently showed greater pro-Taliban support. USAID appears to be largely indifferent to the implications of the MISTI findings.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
