The independent watchdog agency's report says the Department of Defense contributed to the sudden collapse of the Afghan security forces in 2021 partly due to poor planning and lack of accountability over at least some of the billions of dollars provided.
That included at least 78 aircraft worth $923.3 million, 9,524 air-to-ground munitions valued at $6.54 million, over 40,000 vehicles, more than 300,000 weapons, and nearly all night vision, surveillance, communications, and biometric equipment provided to the ANDSF were left behind, SIGAR said, citing a March 2022 Pentagon report to Congress.
"We continually and historically contribute to and facilitate SIGAR’s work," Lodewick told USA TODAY,"and we will continue to do so moving forward for security and defense matters." He noted that SIGAR"echoes that in its opening pages."What were the report's key findings? In the new report, it provides numerous details of what it says were lapses in oversight, bad planning and other shortcomings on the part of the U.S. military.The U.S. set the stage for the Afghanistan government collapse long before the August 2021 meltdown, by failing to create"an independent and self-sustainable ANDSF, despite 20 years and $90 billion of international support."
The U.S. also decided to withdraw on-site contract maintenance from Afghanistan in May 2021, which reduced the availability of aircraft needed to move stockpiles of U.S.-provided weapons and supplies around the country. As a result, Afghan defense and security units,"complained that they lacked enough ammunition, food, water, and other military equipment to sustain military engagements against the Taliban.
"USAID had no comments. State deferred to DOD for comments. In comments to SIGAR, DOD noted that the report has 'important insights' but also disputed certain conclusions."
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