Hillary Clinton delivers a speech during the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan A Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report released Monday stated ongoing US funded projects may “result in adverse effects because they create an expectations gap among the affected population”.
The document cites five of seven 2011 aid projects being 6-15 months behind schedule, “postponed project execution schedules for most aid projects, projects being unsustainable both currently and after US withdrawal and additional projects remaining unidentified, unfunded or have completion dates well beyond 2014\".
The report was constructed with the support of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, commander of US forces General John R Allen and USAID director Dr S Ken Yamashita.
The Special Inspector General John F Sopko warned: “Implementing projects that the Afghan government is unable to sustain may be counterproductive to the counterinsurgency strategy as they raise Afghans’ hopes for electricity and other basic necessities only to dash them later.”
However the US Ambassador to Afghanistan dismissed the claims of failed projects and increasing insurgency by stating Afghanistan has “been there and done that. No one wants to go back to that. Major politicians from various ethnic groups want to have a voice in their nation’s affairs, but not at the point of a gun.”
The report also found that police border installations and housing had been abandoned or were not used for their purpose due to poor construction quality, sewage overflow and a lack of running water. This raises doubts of the Afghan police’s ability to secure the Afghan-Pakistan border which is notorious for the trafficking of weapons, narcotics and insurgents.
To rectify or at least clarify shortfalls in Counter Insurgency (COIN) reconstruction projects, the SIGNAR report states the need for better co-operation between US government agencies.