In recent days, much has been said about Afghanistan. I
spoke about it on the floor on September 15th. Today, I will look at it from a
different angle – through the inspector general lens.
The sudden collapse of the Afghan government and army drew
me right back to years of oversight work and audits conducted by the Special
Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Mr. John Sopko.
SIGAR’s reports pulled no punches. Report-after-report
exposed and documented grim allegations of weak security, “systemic” corruption
and waste. Those core problems were brushed aside and allowed to eat away at
the foundation of our commitment. An inability to solve them prompted SIGAR to
send warning signals. Our mission in Afghanistan was failing.
To the detriment of U.S. foreign policy and our national
security, most of SIGAR’s advice fell on deaf ears. SIGAR was like a lone
wolf howling in the wilderness.
As the final scene of the Afghanistan tragedy unfolded at
Kabul airport, President Biden cut and ran. He assigned blame squarely on
Afghanistan’s shoulders. But that’s not the whole truth. Just pick up any SIGAR
report. It’s plain to see. We were the chief architect and financer for a
lion’s share of the structure that collapsed.
If we are to learn from this experience, we need to begin by
looking in the mirror.
SIGAR’s “Lessons Learned” reports clearly indicate that
security against the Taliban threat was a top priority. According to SIGAR,
security was “never” achieved. Based on repeated assessments of the army’s
readiness, SIGAR concluded the Afghan army lacked the capability to
independently defend the country against internal and external threats. Without
security, nation building was a non-starter. When coupled with “systemic
corruption,” which SIGAR characterized as an “existential threat … that eroded
army readiness,” prospects for survival of the government and army were dim.
Against advice I’ve given previous administrations, the
president announced the date certain for pulling out the U.S. military. Within
days, the Taliban eliminated the Afghan army with hardly a fight. The Taliban
then seized U.S. military assets. The Biden administration left Americans and
Afghan allies behind enemy lines. Adding tragedy to the deeply flawed military
exit, a U.S. drone strike killed 10 civilians.
There’s clear and present urgency for accountability.
Afghanistan’s collapse underscores the merits of SIGAR’s
work. It was created to watchdog the huge sums of money pouring into Afghan
coffers. Mr. Sopko did his job well. He issued aggressive, hard-hitting
reports, documenting egregious waste and blatant corruption on both sides –
ours and theirs. Large sums of money simply disappeared.
In a recent report, SIGAR served up a classic case of waste
and corruption on a silver platter. It is symptomatic of the rot that derailed
our efforts in Afghanistan. It involved the purchase of 20 refurbished Italian
G222 medium-lift aircraft for the Afghan Air Force. They added $549 million to
the taxpayer tab. These aircraft were needed but unsupportable and inoperable.
The squandering on this project was matched by others exposed by SIGAR, like
the 64,000 square foot “surge” command center that was built for $34 million
but never needed and never occupied. The G222 was just another notch in Uncle
Sam’s belt of wasteful spending. Those planes were thrown on the junk heap because
of crooked mismanagement – on our side.
The Air Force general, who led the program while on active
duty and then as vice president for the company selling the Italian aircraft,
allegedly violated criminal conflict-of-interest statutes. SIGAR wanted to
pursue criminal charges but the Department of Justice refused to prosecute. It
turned a blind eye to the general’s alleged misconduct. Let that sink in. A
half-billion taxpayer dollars went up in smoke and no one was held to account.
At a minimum, this reckless spending demanded disciplinary action.
With little or no accountability, it was easy for crooks to
line their pockets with schemes like the G222 aircraft. SIGAR nailed quite a
few. Investigations resulted in 160 criminal convictions. Corruption was found on both sides. The convicted
included 42 Afghans, 58 U.S. military personnel, 49 U.S. contractors, and 11
U.S. government personnel and citizens. Some money was recovered. However, in
such a “target-rich” environment, I suspect SIGAR’s investigators barely
scratched the surface.
Unfortunately, while SIGAR’s finger was stuck in the dike,
Uncle Sam kept the money spigot wide open. Some estimate that over two trillion
dollars flowed through that pipe to a government and army known by SIGAR to be
riddled with “systemic corruption.” We tolerated it and kept the money flowing.
What happened in Afghanistan boils down to the fundamental
principle of good government. Oversight is crucial to accountability.
SIGAR has more work to do.
SIGAR will need to provide a full accounting for all the
captured and abandoned weapons and equipment. It will need to track down
unexpended dollars in the pipeline, estimated at $6.5 billion or more, so those
tax dollars can be returned to the Treasury or reallocated for other purposes.
It will need to investigate allegations that high officials fled with hundreds
of millions of U.S. dollars in cash. If true, this would be more proof of
“systemic” corruption that was the country’s undoing. Stolen tax dollars should
be recovered.
The House defense authorization bill already instructs SIGAR
to address these and other issues. I call on the Senate Armed Services
Committee to adopt those same measures and authorize funding needed to finish
the job.
Congress needs to know why SIGAR’s alarm bells on poor
security, corruption and waste were largely ignored. They were unmistakable
indicators of impending collapse. Once the decision was made to pull-out U.S.
troops in early 2020, preparations for evacuation were mandatory. So why did
President Biden make such a panicked and haphazard exit? Did no one see the
warning signs? Did the military fail to develop an orderly exit strategy and
evacuation plan as alleged by Secretary Blinken? If
true, who is responsible for that blunder?
A congressional autopsy might help us avoid the same
mistakes in the future. It might help us put forward a better foot to
strengthen strategic alliances. As painful as it may be, we must never give up
trying to learn from past mistakes. We still face threats from terrorist groups
with the same ideology as the 911 attackers. We still have troops in many
countries combatting terrorism in partnership with local forces. We can’t
afford to sweep mistakes under the rug and just move on and forget about it.
Without some soul-searching, America risks further humiliations like we have
just witnessed, which will only embolden would-be adversaries.
