Pentagon Accused of Wasting Up to $28M on Afghan Army Camouflage

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR — a military agency set up by Congress that audits U.S. spending in Afghanistan in its recent report says, the Pentagon has authorized an apparently unsuitable fashion choice for Afghan soldiers — one that has cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $28 million.

 “They picked the pattern based on a fashion preference, not by experts, but by the minister of defense,” said John F. Sopko, the special inspector general. “That was a dumb decision.”

By 2007, six years after the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan, the ragtag soldiers of the Afghan Army wore a hodgepodge of uniforms. The United States and its allies have spent millions on overhauling and training Afghanistan’s security forces. Purchasing matching uniforms was one expense.

Afghanistan Ministry of Defense considered SEGAR’s report a historical issue and said investigations are underway.

“The Ministry of Defense will present report about this issue, but this issue relates to the past time. We only heard this issue but our investigations are ongoing to find the fact,” said Muhammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman of MoD.

Lack of accountability from global assistances to Afghanistan is one of the main factors for corruption among security forces.

NATO officers have, however, been trying to move the Afghan army to overhaul its logistics with new computerized systems and more timely reporting from the field that would enable unusual patterns of ammunition use to be spotted more quickly.

NATO officials say the system, while relatively simple, makes it harder to see when supplies are misused. Instead, they are working to have frontline units “pull” in supplies through requests to headquarters, which must track and forecast the needs of its subordinate units.