EXCLUSIVE: Top
U.S. Watchdog: ‘We’re Drowning Afghans in Money’
by Edwin Mora 30 Jul 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— Hanging from John Sopko’s office in a building outside the Pentagon is
a plaque that states, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in
large groups.”
Sopko told Breitbart News that is a motto he lives by,
noting that it “could apply to most bureaucracies.”
As the U.S Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction (SIGAR), Sopko is the steward of nearly $120 billion in taxpayer funds.
His devotion to oversight has rendered him both a
respected U.S. watchdog and a “four letter word” among the segments of the
government he supervises.
During an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Sopko
said the United States “overwhelmed” Afghanistan with too much money at the
beginning of the war in October 2001.
“You can drown somebody in goodness. It’s the comedy of
the absurd when it comes down to [U.S.] assistance [to Afghanistan] and we are
just drowning Afghans in money. And when you drown somebody in money, you can’t
be surprised that some of it gets wasted,” Sopko told Breitbart News.
“The American people should demand accountability,” he
said later, adding that people in the United States should care about the
Afghanistan war “because is a national security issue for the U.S. government.
We are also spending billions of dollars there and we have a lot of American
lives at risk.”
About 8,400 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. Since the
war started in October, the United States government has appropriated more than
$700 billion, including about $120 billion for reconstruction efforts.
Even after the vast U.S. investments, Sopko said
Afghanistan’s “security has deteriorated” since he took office in 2012.
He identified the lack of “security” as his top concern.
Sopko told Breitbart News the current chaos in the
country is hindering the SIGAR agency’s ability to carry out its duties,
preventing his auditors from traveling to certain places.
More U.S. troops or State Department security personnel
would help alleviate that problem, he pointed out.
As IG for the nation-building effort, Sopko’s duty is to
protect American taxpayer dollars from wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse.
“Our job here is to highlight problems and try to fix
them and, as a result, we break a lot of crockery and we’re not liked by some
people. A lot of people like the status quo,” he explained.
He pointed out that the U.S. and Afghan governments share
equal blame for the egregious mismanagement of American taxpayer dollars.
Nevertheless, Sopko revealed that no one in government
has been reprimanded.
“The lack of accountability has shocked me the most”
since becoming IG in 2012, declared SIGAR, stressing that “nobody is
responsible for wasting taxpayer’s dollars.”
“I think it’s starting with Gen. [Jim] Mattis, he is the
first secretary of defense to take an IG report and send it out to his senior
officials and say let’s do something about it,” he proclaimed.
During the exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Sopko
discussed the importance of his job to the future of the U.S. involvement in
Afghanistan as President Donald Trump’s administration debates a new strategy
that the commander-in-chief expects to be a departure from the failed plans of
his predecessors.
“If we proceed no matter what, no matter what the number
of troops, no matter how much money we spend, it’s got to be a whole of
government approach,” he said, noting that the U.S. military cannot carry on
the burden alone.
Government and military officials generally avoid
inspectors general (IGs), so Sopko’s role is not at all glorified, particularly
among those he is duty bound to supervise.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who served in Afghanistan, summed
up how some in the government feel about SIGAR’s oversight when he joked during
a hearing on July 26, “Mr. Sopko, thank you for what you do. Like I told you
before, when I was in theater Sopko was a four-letter word, but on behalf
of the American taxpayer I sure appreciate what you do.”
“I do have a lot of support,” said Sopko. “A lot of the
people who have served and a lot of people who have done policy issues
realize somebody needs to save us and that’s what my job is.”
Sopko is optimistic about the future of the Afghanistan,
telling Breitbart News U.S. victory in the war-ravaged nation is achievable but “it may
take time.”
“Victory is when we can walk away and leave a government
in place that can keep the terrorists out. That’s the stated reason why we’re
there. We went into Afghanistan to kick the terrorists out and create a stable
government that can keep terrorist out,” he said.
Taxpayer Funds
John A. Koskinen
is the commissioner for the
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), and a director at the
AES Corporation.
Note:
Charles O.
Rossotti was a commissioner for the
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), is the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and a director at the
Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Philip
Lader is a director
at
the
AES Corporation, and a lifetime director
at the
Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the
Open Society Foundations, a board member for the
International Crisis Group, and a
friend of
Michael Douglas.
Marc Grossman was a
director at the
Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank), and a special representative for
Afghanistan.
Richard C.
Holbrooke was a special U.S. envoy for
Afghanistan,
and a director at the
Atlantic Council
of the United States (think tank).
Zalmay Khalilzad
was a U.S. ambassador for
Afghanistan,
and is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles O.
Rossotti is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and was a commissioner
for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
John A. Koskinen
is the commissioner for the
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), and a director at the
AES Corporation.
Moises
Naim is a director at the
AES
Corporation, a global board member for the
Open Society Foundations, a fellow at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was a board
member for the
International Crisis
Group.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the
Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the
Open Society Foundations, a board member for the
International Crisis Group, and a
friend of
Michael Douglas.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was the president of
the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a board
member for the
International Crisis
Group, is a director at the American Friends of
Bilderberg (think
tank), a director at the
Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), and a 2008
Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United States in war)
Michael Douglas
is a director at the
Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), and a friend of
George Soros.
Eugene Habiger is
a director at the
Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), and was a commander in chief for the
U.S. Strategic Command.
James E.
Cartwright was a commander for the
U.S.
Strategic Command, a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), an advisory board member for the
Truman Center for National Policy,
and is an advisory board member for the
Truman
National Security Project.
Charles O.
Rossotti is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and was a commissioner
for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Madeleine K.
Albright is an honorary director at the
Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank),
an advisory board member
for the
Truman Center for National
Policy, and an advisory board member for the
Truman National Security Project.
Gabrielle Giffords
is an advisory board member for the
Truman
Center for National Policy, an advisory board member for the
Truman National Security Project, and a
co-founder for the
Americans for
Responsible Solutions.
Stuart E.
Eizenstat is a senior counsel at
Covington
& Burling LLP, and a director at the
Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles O.
Rossotti is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and was a commissioner
for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Marc Grossman was a
director at the
Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank), and a special representative for
Afghanistan.
Richard C.
Holbrooke was a special U.S. envoy for
Afghanistan,
and a director at the
Atlantic Council
of the United States (think tank).
Zalmay Khalilzad
was a U.S. ambassador for
Afghanistan,
and is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles O.
Rossotti is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and was a commissioner
for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
John A. Koskinen
is a director at the
AES Corporation,
and the commissioner for the
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).
John R. Allen is
a director at the
Atlantic Council of
the United States (think tank), and was a commander for the
International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan.
David H. Petraeus
was a commanding officer for the
International
Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and is a director at the
Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Charles O.
Rossotti is a director at the
Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), the chairman for the
AES Corporation, and was a commissioner
for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
John A. Koskinen
is a director at the
AES Corporation,
and the commissioner for the
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).
