Inspector General: Wasted US Aid in Afghanistan Costs Billions

'No Controls in Place,' Warns Fields

Special Inspector General Arnold Fields, who is responsible for investigating evidence of waste and fraud in the USAID projects in Afghanistan has, as with previous investigators, discovered massive waste and fraud in the program.

According to Fields, the amount of US government aid in Afghanistan since 2002 which has been entirely squandered or stolen reaches “well into the millions, if not billions, of dollars.”

“There are no controls in place sufficient enough to ensure taxpayers’ money is used for the (intended) purpose,” warned Fields. His report is the latest in a growing number of corruption probes detailing massive amounts of aid being stolen.

Afghanistan is regularly among the top 2-3 nations in the world in corruption, and a myriad of reports have pointed to the corruption extending from top to bottom in the nation. The reports have spawned considerable concern that this is not the most reasonable nation to pump massive amounts of unchecked aid.

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.