Breathtaking fraud in Afghanistan
Florida Times-Union
October 28, 2011
Corruption is part of the culture in Afghanistan, and the United States has been the great enabler.
That is the only conclusion that can be reached by an impressive report from the Commission on Wartime Contracting, the result of three years of work.
A total of $12 million every day for 10 years has been lost in fraud and waste.
In an era when the United States is facing great financial challenges, this is an outrage.
At least $31 billion has been lost in waste and fraud, perhaps as much as $60 billion. Why the great disparity? Because the financial controls are basically nonexistent. And the actual documents of the investigation have been sealed for 20 years as if this is the investigation into the assassination of a president. …
This is like doing business with Tony Soprano.
For instance, the U.S. pays Afghan contractors to provide trucking services. Then they hire subcontractors. The subcontractors then pay insurgent groups for protection because insurgents either control the roads or have the ability to attack. …
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2011-10-28/story/breathtaking-fraud-afghanistan
