USA’s support of corrupt warlords ‘unintentionally’ strengthened Taliban: SIGAR

The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) underlines that the US government has unwantedly reinforced the Taliban by backing up the corrupt warlords in Afghanistan.

John Sopko, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said that to bring security, the US and its allies supported some warlords who were governing some provinces and districts of Afghanistan.

Sopko added that the US had thought that if the warlords had the US support, they would become more responsible, but it turned in a way that compelled Afghans to join the Taliban forces.

The US has spent billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and building the infrastructure since 2001. A portion of the money was devoted to fighting against corruption. However, some of the Afghan people still refer to the Taliban ‘desert courts’ instead of the Afghan Judiciary, because of the corruption in government administrations.

Sopko clearly stated that the ‘Afghan people going to the ‘desert courts’ instead of the Afghan Judiciary, after all the money spent, was a shocking fact for him.

Some US Members of Parliament have also expressed their concerns regarding the rising violence in Afghanistan.

McCaul, a US MP has underlined that the US strategy to form security forces for Afghanistan did not improve the security situation in Afghanistan. Poor coordination and insufficient training have added to the level of violence. He says this is not acceptable for the USA.

SIGAR admits that the US efforts were inconclusive due to lack of historical, cultural, social, and political understanding. The US deployed its forces into Afghanistan to suppress terrorism. However, two decades past, there still is war in Afghanistan.