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Afghan Watchdog Blames Corrupt U.S. Officials for Botched Prison Project

 Here's a key point in the story...

"even though Al-Watan- the construction Co.)- only completed 50 percent of the contracted work, the State Department still paid the company $18.5 million - over 90 percent of the initial agreement."




Billions of dollars have been wasted in Afghanistan since the U.S. launched ambitious plans to rebuild the country in 2002, and American watchdog John Sopko has spent the past two years documenting American-led reconstruction failures caused by mismanagement or outright corruption on the part of Afghan officials.

But a new report from Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, found that at least one incident of mismanagement -- the failed attempt to renovate Pol-i-Charkhi prison, Afghanistan's largest correctional facility -- came at the hands of two State Department employees charged with overseeing the project. And in an unusual role reversal, it was an Afghan national who actually had to fill their shoes after both Americans were suspended from their posts for fraud and mismanagement.

 http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/10/28/afghan_watchdog_blames_corrupt_us_officials_for_botched_prison_project?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=*Editors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2014_EditorsPicks10%2F28RS