Afghanistan watchdog: U.S. collaborated with 'corrupt warlords, militias and power brokers'

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

A scathing report by a government watchdog agency concludes that the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan made the country's already endemic corruption far worse, and ended up sabotaging success of the U.S. mission by effectively funding and fueling the insurgency and stoking popular grievances.

 

"Corruption undermined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by fueling grievances against the Afghan government and channeling material support to the insurgency," the report concluded.

 

John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, released details of the first ever "lessons learned" report on how tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars were wasted, lost, stolen and misspent, undercutting the U.S. goal of rebuilding a stable society.

 

"Our analysis reveals that corruption substantially undermined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan from the very beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. We found that corruption cut across all aspects of the reconstruction effort, jeopardizing progress made in security, rule of law, governance, and economic growth," the report says.