*KABUL: The United States wasted billions of dollars trying to stabilizefragile parts of Afghanistan from 2001-2017 and some efforts caused moreharm than good, a US government watchdog said Thursday.*
A report by the office of the Special Inspector for AfghanistanReconstruction found that Washington had set unrealistic expectations foritself after the US-led invasion in 2001 and overestimated its ability tobuild and reform government institutions.
“Despite some heroic efforts to stabilize insecure and contested areas inAfghanistan between 2002 and 2017, the program mostly failed,” SpecialInspector General John Sopko said as he presented the report in Washington.
“This happened for a number of reasons, including the establishment of aset of unrealistic expectations about what could be achieved in just a fewyears’ time.”
The report found that the military pressured aid groups to build schoolsand infrastructure in areas that were still being contested by the Taliban,leading to the failure of many projects.
“Opportunities for corruption and elite capture abounded, making many ofthose projects far more harmful than helpful,” the document states.
The SIGAR analysis found that Washington had set expectations and programsnot properly tailored for Afghanistan, and noted that successes instabilizing Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physicalpresence of coalition troops and civilians.
“Under immense pressure to quickly stabilize insecure districts, USgovernment agencies spent far too much money, far too quickly, in a countrywoefully unprepared to absorb it,” SIGAR noted. – APP/AFP