Afghanistan can’t be trusted to funnel the millions upon millions of dollars it receives from America to the proper sources, two global aiding firms found, in recently conducted reports made public Thursday.
The auditors were hired three years ago — but their conclusions were so shocking that leading government officials in the United States tried to keep them private, The New York Times reported. Among the recently surfaced findings: Not one of the 16 Afghan ministries that receive aid from the United States were trustworthy enough to keep the money clear of corrupt hands.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction published the full report, which showed how $236.5 million that was supposed to go to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health was actually at risk of heading to the wrong sources, “arising from payment of salaries in cash,” The Times reported.
SIGAR also found: The U.S. Agency for International Development’s internal reviews uncovered a total of 107 major risks with providing money to President Karzai’s government — “99 of them rated critical or high.” USAID asked that SIGAR keep the sensitive information from Congress and from the public, the report showed.
The United States has committed more than $1 billion to Afghanistan.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.