- Apr 30, 2012
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http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Michael__Shank__3B9F6648-0ABF-4521-A625-CC1183B93707.html
"How Pentagon Employees Are Picking America’s Pocket - In Afghanistan
At the beginning of this lame duck session, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Likely few in Washington read it. The U.S. war in Afghanistan wasn’t a big part of pre-election politicking and now, post-election, the biggest thing on congressional members’ minds is fiscal cliff finagling, not foreign policy. What Congress doesn’t realize, however, is that the special inspector general’s report is entirely relevant and completely germane to the cost-cutting conversation.
How? The latest report, which is required by Congress on a quarterly basis, shows some astonishing financials that remain under-reported by the U.S. press and under-emphasized by Congress. While Americans have long pointed fingers at the waste, fraud and abuse by Afghan leaders who are mishandling precious U.S. taxpayer dollars in this debt-funded war, the truth is, the misdeeds are equally ubiquitous within the Defense Department.
This is not merely an Afghan problem, but an American one as well. Late this September, for example, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant was charged with smuggling $1 million in cash from Afghanistan to the United States. This Pentagon employee attempted to smuggle the cash inside numerous DVD recorders, which were loaded for shipment to the U.S.. The same month, another U.S. Army Sergeant pled guilty to smuggling $100,000 from Afghanistan. This sergeant smuggled the money to America in a backpack at the end of her overseas tour. Also in September, a former U.S. Army Chief was convicted of conspiracy for his role in a bribery/kickback scheme, after soliciting a $60,000 bribe.
I could go on. The stories are pervasive: from a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class stealing $225,000 in funds earmarked for reconstruction, to a US Army 7th Special Forces Group sergeant stealing tens of thousands of dollars hidden inside a teddy bear. These are just a few stories from this fall’s quarterly report by SIGAR. The convictions are constant, the charges are countless, and the monies lost are by now in the billions. But don’t take my word for it, read the SIGAR report.
We cannot forget, amid fiscal cliff fecklessness, that as taxpayers of this debt-funded fight we are sending nearly $10 billion every month to Afghanistan for the war (aka deconstruction) and post-war reconstruction efforts. Last year alone, American taxpayers accumulated well over $113.9 billion worth of debt so that this war could continue. At the end of 2012, we’ll see a similar tally for total debt-funded war expenditures."
Full article at link above.
"How Pentagon Employees Are Picking America’s Pocket - In Afghanistan
At the beginning of this lame duck session, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Likely few in Washington read it. The U.S. war in Afghanistan wasn’t a big part of pre-election politicking and now, post-election, the biggest thing on congressional members’ minds is fiscal cliff finagling, not foreign policy. What Congress doesn’t realize, however, is that the special inspector general’s report is entirely relevant and completely germane to the cost-cutting conversation.
How? The latest report, which is required by Congress on a quarterly basis, shows some astonishing financials that remain under-reported by the U.S. press and under-emphasized by Congress. While Americans have long pointed fingers at the waste, fraud and abuse by Afghan leaders who are mishandling precious U.S. taxpayer dollars in this debt-funded war, the truth is, the misdeeds are equally ubiquitous within the Defense Department.
This is not merely an Afghan problem, but an American one as well. Late this September, for example, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant was charged with smuggling $1 million in cash from Afghanistan to the United States. This Pentagon employee attempted to smuggle the cash inside numerous DVD recorders, which were loaded for shipment to the U.S.. The same month, another U.S. Army Sergeant pled guilty to smuggling $100,000 from Afghanistan. This sergeant smuggled the money to America in a backpack at the end of her overseas tour. Also in September, a former U.S. Army Chief was convicted of conspiracy for his role in a bribery/kickback scheme, after soliciting a $60,000 bribe.
I could go on. The stories are pervasive: from a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class stealing $225,000 in funds earmarked for reconstruction, to a US Army 7th Special Forces Group sergeant stealing tens of thousands of dollars hidden inside a teddy bear. These are just a few stories from this fall’s quarterly report by SIGAR. The convictions are constant, the charges are countless, and the monies lost are by now in the billions. But don’t take my word for it, read the SIGAR report.
We cannot forget, amid fiscal cliff fecklessness, that as taxpayers of this debt-funded fight we are sending nearly $10 billion every month to Afghanistan for the war (aka deconstruction) and post-war reconstruction efforts. Last year alone, American taxpayers accumulated well over $113.9 billion worth of debt so that this war could continue. At the end of 2012, we’ll see a similar tally for total debt-funded war expenditures."
Full article at link above.
