Afghan Govt Blames ‘Foreign Contracts’ for Corruption

Says Donor Nations to Blame for Disappearing Aid

With concerns about the massive corruption in the Afghan govenrment finally reaching a breaking point today and the US House of Representatives cutting of all aid to the nation until a GAO audit can be conducted on where the money is actually going, Afghan officials are on the defensive.

President Karzai complained that the donor nations are awarding too many contracts to private security firms and large foreign companies, and that the aid is actually going out of the nation before it gets to his government.

His Finance Minister, Omar Zakhilwal, added that 77 percent of the international aid sent to Afghanistan since the beginning of the US-led occupation has actually never gone through Afghan government hands, but was rather distributed directly to Western approved companies for Western approved projects.

The stark reality of the Afghan government, being one of the most corrupt governments on the planet, has combined with growing concerns about the large sums of money pouring out of the nation and into unknown hands. It seems however that the Afghan government may not have a monopoly on graft in Afghanistan, and that the problem is actually far deeper than officials may realize.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.