The war in Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001, as the U.S. military
launched an operation in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on
the U.S. The war continues today.
By David Nakamura
Washington Post staff writer
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
KABUL -- A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai challenged the
United States on Monday to clean up fraud and corruption within the
hundreds of millions of dollars of aid contracts it distributes to
Afghan companies each year, saying that abuse is far worse than any
irregularities in the Karzai administration.
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Waheed Omer used his weekly news conference to take the offensive in
the ongoing political battle between the Karzai government and U.S.
officials over the mismanagement of international money.
Of every $100 million of aid coming into the country, Omer said, 80
percent is controlled by the United States and NATO. Therefore, he
said, it is up to international officials to enact safeguards and root
out illegal practices.
"Corruption is widely affecting the multimillion-dollar contracts
going to Afghans, who are becoming terribly rich out of those
contracts," Omer said. "We want the international community to work
with the government of Afghanistan to eliminate these sources of
corruption and target the roots and sources of corruption. A major
part are these international contracts."
Omer's remarks came just days after Karzai finished a series of
meetings with Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who had flown to Kabul to
push Karzai to crack down on corruption within his administration.
Questions sent to Kerry through aides were not immediately answered.
Last month, Mohammad Zia Salehi, a high-level Karzai aide, was
arrested by Afghanistan's Major Crimes Task Force after allegedly
being overheard in a wire-tap soliciting a bribe of an automobile
worth $10,000. Salehi was released from jail within hours after Karzai
personally intervened, according to Afghan officials familiar with the
case. Karzai has said he acted because Salehi's human rights were
violated and the wire-tap was against Afghan rules.
The Washington Post reported last week that Salehi was also being
investigated for doling out luxury automobiles and cash to Karzai
allies and talking regularly with Taliban insurgents.
Asked to respond to those new allegations, Omer said: "In terms of the
official information this office has received, this arrest was
specifically for an alleged case of soliciting a bribe purported to be
in the shape of a car. . . . All details of those other allegations
are not part of this case as described to the government of
Afghanistan."
Karzai has been particularly critical of the private security forces,
which number more than 30,000 armed guards working primarily with
western organizations, including the U.S. military.
"We will take steps to stop corruption, whether it be in customs or in
services. But the government wants also to look into the wide-ranging
corruption in the international forces contracts. One area is the
private security companies, which are making billions of dollars and
threaten the security," Omer said.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), NATO's force in
Afghanistan, has already established two task forces to examine
corruption -- one on international contracts and another on private
security firms.
"ISAF will soon issue comprehensive contracting guidance that will
ensure our contracting dollars best serve the Afghan people as well as
ISAF's mission," said a spokesman, Maj. Joel Harper.
Meanwhile, the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting announced
Monday that it will undertake a week-long examination of U.S.
construction contracts in Afghanistan. Co-Chairman Michael Thibault
said in a statement that $4 billion was wasted on construction in
Iraq, and similar problems could be found in Afghanistan.
--
Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear
of punishment and hope of reward after death." --
Albert Einstein !!!
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