KABUL (SW): The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has noted in a fresh report that the U.S. Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) was unable to accomplish its overall goals in Afghanistan with funds worth hundreds of millions.
TFBSO was a temporary organization created by the Department of Defense (DOD) to support operations in Iraq. However, in 2009, DOD redirected TFBSO to carry out economic development projects in Afghanistan. SIGAR has stated that from the start, TFBSO’s goals were at odds with its capabilities, and its role within the U.S. reconstruction effort was unclear.
It has stated that of the more than $675 million in obligations contained in contracts that SIGAR was able to review, TFBSO obligated only $316.3 million to contracts directly supporting projects in Afghanistan. The remaining $359.5 million went to indirect and support costs. For the $316.3 million in project contracts, SIGAR found that 78 percent partially met or failed to meet their required deliverables. Finally, while TFBSO submitted a plan to transfer its projects to State or USAID — as Congress had required it to do in its authorizing legislation — its assumptions about TFBSO’s ability to complete its work were unrealistic.
SIGAR has concluded that while TFBSO hired or contracted with technical experts in the fields of agriculture, banking, business development, mining, and energy, it often demonstrated a lack of awareness or understanding about the political, economic, social, and climatological realities in Afghanistan that would complicate the interventions those experts favored.
ENDS
