Afghanistan not ready to govern on its own, State Dept. assessments say

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- Confidential assessments by the U.S. State Department indicate Afghanistan is not prepared to govern itself after the United States withdraws its troops.

The report by the U.S. Agency for International Development suggested billions of dollars of spending in Afghanistan has not yet created a sustainable civilian government and has often been diverted to corrupt politicians and to insurgents intent on destabilizing the country.

USAID officials said the corruption and waste in Afghanistan has long been known, noting that dramatic progress has been made in a country that had no stability only a dozen years ago.

The report, researched in 2012 and 2013 and known in foreign aid circles as “Stage II Risk Assessment Reports,” was obtained by the Washington Times, leading to questions regarding why they were not publicly released earlier.

USAID spokesman Matt Herrick said, “We strongly reject all claims that we have improperly withheld information.”

The documents focus on Afghan ministries overseeing the nation’s finance, mining, utilities, communications, education, health and agriculture sectors. Only in the Afghan Ministry of Finance did auditors conclude the systems was “adequate to properly manage and account for” money provided by Washington.

[Washington Times]