U.S. reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan suffered from an overly risk-averse approach, a lack of qualified personnel, and poorly conceived contracts, among other issues, the U.S. government’s Afghanistan watchdog told lawmakers Wednesday.
John Sopko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that diplomats and development professionals are held to a different standard than that for U.S. military personnel. Lawmakers and the American public tend not to question the need for adequate staffing and resources for the military but are more critical of its civilian counterparts, Sopko said.
“The seeds of the collapse in Afghanistan were sown well before the last 60 days.”
— John Sopko, U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction“We tend to view more bodies at [the Department of] State and AID [the U.S. Agency for International Development] as a waste of money, but we don’t if we’re talking about the Defense Department,” he said.
He argued that without enough personnel, resources, and expertise for the State Department and USAID in Afghanistan, the Defense Department was left to “fill that void.” Diplomats and development professionals in the country often experienced rapid turnover, he noted, “leaving their successors to start from scratch.”
Sopko also highlighted the inability or unwillingness of civilian personnel to leave heavily secured areas to monitor and evaluate the programs they designed and funded.
“There has been a … fear among State Department officials and AID officials to take risk. As a result, people didn’t leave the compounds. People didn’t go over the wire and do work they need to do, and I think it’s because they were afraid they would get in trouble if somebody got hurt,” Sopko said.
“If you talk to the average State Department official or AID official, they understand they have to take risks. You have to let them take those calculated risks. Then we don’t have to worry about contractors doing their job or worry about DOD doing the job,” he added.
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At least some U.S. lawmakers agree. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, introduced a bill earlier this year that he said aims to “get the State Department out of its bunker mentality” by removing some reporting barriers for diplomats in fragile contexts. Rep. Sara Jacobs, a Democrat from California, is currently working on a companion bill in the House.
It was not immediately clear to what extent these bills would apply to USAID personnel, in addition to diplomats at the State Department.
Sopko, who was appointed in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, is known for making headline-grabbing allegations of waste, fraud, and incompetence by federal agencies, contractors, NGOs, and Afghans that some have criticized as sensational and misleading. With the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s rapid seizure of power in August, lawmakers asked for Sopko’s views on the failure of the reconstruction mission and lessons for future engagement in Afghanistan or other conflict-affected states.
“The seeds of the collapse in Afghanistan were sown well before the last 60 days,” he told them.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
