SIGAR Report Finds Afghanistan Reconstruction Compromised By Security, Corruption

"The 6-month assessment, completed in September 2011, found that the APPF was not ready to assume any of the essential PSC responsibilities to meet contract requirements -- such as training, equipping, and deploying guard forces," the report pointed out. "[T]he December assessment, which would have been at the 9-month mark, has not yet been made public" and "the deadline for the 12-month assessment has passed."The SIGAR report also cited a litany of failed anti-corruption efforts, including the following:​

• "The Afghan Attorney General’s Office (AGO) continued to avoid prosecuting significant corruption cases this quarter: it did not prosecute any high-level officials at the national or provincial levels."
• The High Office of Oversight for Anti-Corruption's "core functions of combating corruption remained mostly ineffective this quarter, and some have deteriorated."
• The U.S. Department of Justice continued its suspension of training of the Afghan government's Anti-Corruption Unit, with the Department of State, noting that training will resume only if its work "is taken seriously."
• The Afghan government's Major Crimes Task Force "made no progress" in getting the Afghan Attorney General's office to prosecute the public corruption cases it had developed.
• The National Assembly’s legislative committee rejected a draft law to strengthen government audits.
• "A policy aimed at implementing a merit-based hiring system of provincial and deputy-provincial governors has remained stalled since May 2011, when the policy was suspended."
• "The Afghan government’s progress in implementing asset verification for government officials continued to fall short of U.S. expectations."
• "Customs collections are very susceptible to fraud and corruption at all major entry points, and the Afghan government continued to make little progress counteracting the problem."
• And the Afghan government's passport agency "is beset by corruption" with staffers illegally selling passports on the street outside the department.

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