US Auditors: Better Oversight in Afghanistan Needed

By Rolf Rosenkranz // 03 May 2010
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a press conference at the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Nov. 19, 2009, the day of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's inauguration. The U.S. civil military mission in Afghanistan has been criticized for a lack of oversight: Photo by: Daniel Wilkenson/U.S. embassy Kabul

The Obama administration should do more to prevent waste and fraud in Afghanistan, according to U.S. auditors.

“United States’ agencies need to pay more attention to oversight and they need to pay more attention to increasing the capacities of the Afghan agencies to provide oversight,” John Brummet, acting deputy special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, told Reuters April 30.

President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget request includes USD11.6 billion to equip and train Afghan security personnel, as well as USD3.3 billion for government and development programs.