US Watchdog: ‘We’re Drowning Afghans in Money’

Says He's 'Shocked' by Lack of Accountability for US Waste

John Sopko, thew Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has spent five years dealing with widespread corruption and waste in occupied Afghanistan Years of reports and nothing happening appear to have taken a toll of Sopko, who is increasingly vocal with the criticism.

These newest comments, which came in an interview with Breitbart, saw Sopko once again complaining that the US is sending way too much aid to Afghanistan for a country that size to responsibly manage, saying that effective the US is “drowning the Afghans in money.

Sopko and others previously said in reports they believe the sheer quantity of money being pumped into Afghanistan is driving the corruption in the nation, which is one of the most corrupt societies in human history at this point.

Sopko’s biggest problem, though, wasn’t just the billions of dollars in waste, but the lack of accountability, saying that not a single US has ever been reprimanded in the entirety of the Afghan War over the waste, and saying that it was “shocking” how little officials seem to be inclined to do about the losses.

That’s part of what makes Sopko’s job so difficult. The SIGAR is charged with issuing regular reports on waste, but not empowered with actually doing anything about it. Indeed, for years reports have indicated that the Pentagon brass have taken a very dim view of the office, because they publicize failures they’d prefer to keep secret.

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.