US wasted billions in failed Afghan stabilisation efforts: official

The US wasted billions of dollars trying to stabilise fragile parts of Afghanistan from 2001-2017 and some efforts caused more harm than good, a US government watchdog said on 24 May.

A report by the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that Washington had set unrealistic expectations for itself after the US-led invasion in 2001 and overestimated its ability to build and reform government institutions.

Special Inspector General John Sopko said as he presented the report in Washington: ‘Despite some heroic efforts to stabilise insecure and contested areas in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2017, the programme mostly failed.

‘This happened for a number of reasons, including the establishment of a set of unrealistic expectations about what could be achieved in just a few years’ time.’

The report found that the military pressured aid groups to build schools and infrastructure in areas that were still being contested by the Taliban, leading to the failure of many projects.

The document states: ‘Opportunities for corruption and elite capture abounded, making many of those projects far more harmful than helpful.’

The SIGAR analysis found that Washington had set expectations and programmes not properly tailored for Afghanistan, and noted that successes in stabilising Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physical presence of coalition troops and civilians.

SIGAR noted: ‘Under immense pressure to quickly stabilise insecure districts, US government agencies spent far too much money, far too quickly, in a country woefully unprepared to absorb it.’