U.S. Auditor Told To Stop Publicizing Waste And Fraud In Afghanistan

Watchdog Says Government Has Tried To Silence Him On Afghanistan -- Politico

The watchdog who tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars spent to rebuild Afghanistan says government officials have tried to silence him because they think he's embarrassing the White House and Afghan President Hamid Karzai by pointing out the waste and fraud.

John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, used a speech at the New America Foundation on Wednesday to blast government “bureaucrats”' who have told him to stop publicizing damning audits that detail case after case of waste, corruption and mismanagement of rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. Some government officials have even complained that they aren't allowed to pre-screen or edit his reports, he said.

Read more ....

More News On U.S. Auditor Told To Stop Publicizing Waste And Fraud In Afghanistan

U.S. Watchdog On Afghan Spending Says He’s Pressured To Keep Quiet -- Washington Times
U.S. auditor: Afghan corruption may rob $8 billion -- Washington Examiner
US funds worth $50 million stolen from Afghan bank: SIGAR -- Khaama Press
Footing the Bill for Fraud: Reconstruction funds wasted, stolen in war-torn nation -- Washington Free Beacon
Afghanistan could become haven again for al-Qaida, U.S. watchdog warns -- Washington Examiner

My Comment: This issue always get my blood boiling. My commentary here sums up how I feel about this story.

The CIA Is Not The Only Spy Agency Giving 'Ghost Money' To Afghan President Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Reuters

Turns Out British Spies Were Giving Bags of Cash to Karzai, Too -- The Atlantic

A week after we learned that the CIA delivered bags full of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai in exchange for his cooperation, the United Kingdom's MI6 admitted to doing the same thing this weekend. While the British spies say they forked over just a fraction of what their American counterparts did, the new information proves that this quasi-bribery scheme was hardly an isolated incident. In fact, it sounds like it was a big part of the allies' operation in Afghanistan. This so-called "ghost money" was evidently a big part of Karzai's peacekeeping strategy, however. The leader called the CIA and MI6 contributions an "easy source of petty cash" for dealing with the Taliban.

Read more ....

More News On MI6 Admitting Giving Cash Payments To Afghan President Karzai

MI6 'handing bundles of cash to Hamid Karzai' -- The Telegraph
MI6 ‘ghost money’ sent to Hamid Karzai amid massive Afghan corruption -- RT
MI6 admits ‘bundles’ of cash handed out to Afghan leadership -- Voice of Russia

My Comment: I suspect that the CIA and MI6 are not the only ones who are giving money to President Karzai.

New York Times: CIA Gave Afghan Presidentr Karzai Tens Of Millions Of Dollars Over The Years

With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.

All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.

Read more ....

My Comment: I get sick when I read stories like this one. No accountability. No planning on what to do with this money. No explanation. No objections. no responsibility. The best sentence in this report that summarizes everything perfectly is the following ....

.... “The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan,” one American official said, “was the United States.”

This is where Congress should step-up be provide the necessary oversight .... but I suspect that since this operation occurred under both a Republican and Democrat administration .... oversight be damned.

Update: Wikileaks disclosed some of this corruption 2 years ago. The UN disclosed even more on Afghan corruption earlier this year.

UN report: Corruption Is Widespread Throughout Afghanistan

The US Is Leaving Behind An Unbelievably Corrupt State In Afghanistan -- Business Insider

Corruption is still king in Afghanistan, according to a new United Nations report released Thursday, which found over half of all Afghan citizens had paid a bribe to a public official in 2012, paying out over $3.9 billion.

The 40 percent spike in bribes from 2009 highlights a government struggling to battle insurgents — and themselves.

According to the report, in most cases, bribes are paid in order to obtain better or faster services, while others are meant to influence police and judicial decisions. In bribes to Afghan National Police, the study found 24 percent of bribes were used to get suspects released.

Read more ....

More News On The UN Report On Corruption In Afghanistan

$3.9B spent on Afghanistan bribery in 2012; U.N. says frequency falling, but cost of bribes up sharply -- CBS/AP
Afghanistan bribery cost 'increases sharply' -- BBC
UN: Cost of Afghan corruption rose sharply last year, with half the population paying a bribe -- Washington Post/AP
UN: Half Of All Afghans Paid Bribes In 2012 -- Business Insider/AFP
UN Report Says Half Of Afghans Paid Bribes In 2012 -- Radio Free Europe
The cost of corruption spirals in Afghanistan: Report -- BBC Market Place

WNU Editor: The UN report is here.


My Comment: It's easy to blame the west for Afghanistan's corruption problems .... but the culture of corruption was present in Afghanistan long before U.S. and NATO forces showed up on the scene. The only difference between then and now is that the U.S./NATO/UN presence has only 'super-sized' the problem. As to who will ultimately benefit from all of this .... one only needs to look at the Taliban.