WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- A Pentagon audit indicates that due to a lack of oversight, some Afghan contracts went to the Taliban.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction compiled the audit report.
The SIGAR audit detailed that the agency found significant weaknesses in the oversight intended to keep the U.S. Department of Defense from giving contracts to Taliban and other terrorists, adding that that the Pentagon is failing to implement fail-safes designed to prevent contracts from being given to terrorists, or following up on them afterwards to apprehend them.
The SIGAR report, "Contracting with the Enemy," released Thursday noted that the Defense Department does not have "reasonable assurance that U.S. government contracting funds are not being provided to persons and entities supporting the insurgency and opposing U.S. and coalition forces. As a result, millions of contracting dollars could be diverted to forces seeking to harm U.S. military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan and derail the multibillion dollar reconstruction effort," Press TV reported on Friday.
Giving context, a SIGAR spokesman speaking on condition of anonymity stated that $5 million had apparently been paid by the Pentagon to contractors affiliated with the Taliban. Analysts note that in a country with a per capita GDP of $1,000, the amount is not insignificant.
