Afghanistan Reconstruction

Afghanistan Reconstruction Contract Administration Needs Overhaul, U.S. Senate Committee Warns

06/15/2011 - As the U.S. government prepares to ramp down military operations in Afghanistan, a new congressional report warns that the billions of dollars being spent in financial aid to the war-torn nation are achieving achieving limited success and calls for more scrutiny on the types of projects, including reconstruction projects, that are funded.

The congressional report concludes that, going forward, any projects should be “necessary, achievable and sustainable.”

Released on June 8 by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the report does not focus exclusively on the reconstruction effort but looks at the entire civilian effort to stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan. The Senate investigation dovetails with recent critical reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and the Wartime Contracting Commission. Common themes are mismanaged contracts in Afghanistan and ingrained corruption and waste in the country.

“This report is meant to be constructive,” said committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.). “It is a report with critical observations,” but those observations are made “with the best spirit of joint cooperation,” he said.

According to SIGAR, Congress has provided more than $17.3 billion to rebuild Afghanistan since 2002, and the president has asked for an additional $17.3 billion for fiscal 2012.

However, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee report urges the administration to think carefully about how to allocate aid dollars. {continued}