Six communication towers were built in Afghanistan at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of more than $6.5 million, despite the fact that the Pentagon didn’t want them and Afghan officials couldn’t use them.
The towers were constructed by the U.S. State Department, and now Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko wants to know why.
Sopko said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry that “the officials responsible for planning and executing this project did not take into consideration a number of apparent red flags which were evident prior to the decision to commit over $6.5 million in U.S. taxpayer funds.”
Sopko’s letter was dated Sept. 9 but was only made public Thursday.
The red flags, according to Sopko, “included serious concerns expressed by senior State Department personnel, Department of Defense flag officers, and Afghan officials regarding the viability of the project.”
Nevertheless, the towers were built, Sopko told Kerry, even though “concerns were raised that Afghan telecom providers would not connect to the system, and that DOD did not want the towers because of the high cost of fueling the towers’ generators.”
Sopko said his investigators were given an Aug. 20, 2011, internal State Department memo that recommended canceling the projects. But a Sept. 1, 2011, memo recommended approval.
Four of the towers were built in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, another was erected in the Kandahar Province and the sixth was constructed in the Ghazni Province.
The State Department has sought to auction the towers, but apparently without success. Sopko asked Kerry for an update on the effort.
A State Department spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Mark Tapscott is executive editor of the Washington Examiner.
