US Wasted $14.7 Million on Afghanistan Building It Never Used

The latest in a long line of Pentagon spending fiascoes in Afghanistan, a new report details the $14.7 million wasted on the construction of a building in Kandahar, which was intended as a warehouse but was never used.

The Army decided it wanted the warehouse back in 2009, and awarded a contract to two Turkish companies to build it in late 2010. It was supposed to be done by August 2011, but wasn’t, and $13.5 million later the initial contractor was fired.

Enter a new contractor in May 2013, who was hired even though the Army was already openly saying it planned to pull forces from Kandahar at any rate. That contract too continued to be extended, even after the troops had all left, and the contractors formally “delivered” it in February of 2014, years after the initial deadline, and well after the US had already withdrawn from the city.

Centcom confirmed that the US never occupied or used the warehouse, and indeed intends to transfer the land on which it is built to the Afghan government later this year, meaning the warehouse might be torn down for something they want. Centcom is promising to investigate why they kept putting more money into the building after it became clear it would never be used.