Afghanistan Weekly Reader: Questions Surround $1.1 Billion Afghan Aid Fund
The U.S. government watchdog that oversees reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan has raised concerns about the $1.1 billion program for supplying fuel to the Afghan National Army. A report the watchdog agency highlighted several accountability issues, chief among them that financial records covering $475 million in fuel payments have been shredded.
Meanwhile, a new poll finds that public support for the Afghanistan war is declining, with large majorities of U.S. and European respondents favoring withdrawal or an immediate troop reduction.
From ASG
9/11/12
$1.1 Billion Aid Program Questioned
Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski
Despite serious concerns about the $1.1 billion fuel program, the Pentagon plans to increase funding, from $466 million in 2013 to $555 million in 2014 and beyond.
ARTICLES
9/9/12
US watchdog questions spending for Afghan army
Associated Press by Pauline Jelinek
The watchdog for U.S. spending in Afghanistan says lax accountability in a $1.1 billion program supplying fuel to the Afghan National Army needs “immediate attention” before control of the program is turned over to the Kabul government in less than four months.
9/12/12
Western support for Afghanistan war collapsing, survey shows
The Guardian by Simon Tisdall
Public support for the war in Afghanistan is collapsing in western and Nato member countries, with 53% of Europeans and 44% of Americans favouring the immediate withdrawal of all troops, an international survey shows.
9/9/12
U.S. Puts Transfer of Detainees to Afghans on Hold
The New York Times by Graham Bowley
One of the centerpieces of the hand-over of American control to Afghan authority encountered a last-minute unexpected obstacle on Sunday when the United States paused the transfer of the final couple of dozen Afghan detainees at the Parwan detention facility.
OPINION
9/13/12
A Long View of Afghanistan’s Wars
The New York Times by Richard Oppel
Both Afghanistan’s current throes and any educated guess about its future can only be appreciated by considering not just the course of the American-led occupation but three other distinct periods over the past
quarter-century as well.
