Afghan Corruption - It Just Doesn't Go Away

The U.S. and other nations have long identified corruption as a main factor in support for the insurgency and the ineffectiveness of the government and security institutions to defeat the insurgency. For many long years the international community has worked very hard (some years harder than others) to diminish corruption but still it persists at all levels of the Afghan government and throughout the security institutions. General John R. Allen, USMC and former COMISAF, once said "Corruption is the existential, strategic threat to Afghanistan". Some recent reports and news stories about Afghan corruption are provided below:

May 30, 2017. Industrial-Scale Looting of Afghanistan's Mineral Resources, United States Institute for Peace (USPI). This 20-page report details the large-scale looting of mineral resources amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars per year that fuels local conflicts, the wider insurgency, and supports power brokers and warlords.

May 27, 2017. Inspector general grads to boost anti-corruption efforts, Resolute Support HQs. A press release by RS HQs featuring recent graduates of the Ministry of Defense IG school. The newly minted IGs will join 570 of their IG colleagues operating across Afghanistan.

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