U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan, and "major challenge' of Corruption is McCaskill Focus in Armed Services Hearing

Press Release

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today quizzed the top commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, on U.S. efforts to root out corruption and potential waste of taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan, as well as efforts to combat Islamic State forces in the region.

"Corruption continues to be a major, major challenge in Afghanistan," said McCaskill, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. "I know that [Afghan President] Ghani made this a focus of his campaign when he ran, to lead the government in Afghanistan, but I noticed the New York Times reporting last week that corruption played a role in the Taliban's recent success in Kunduz, saying that the local security forces were extorting money from the locals, which raised sympathy for the Taliban. They were being, in fact, hit up, by the folks we've been spending hundreds of millions of dollars to train, and obviously that's unacceptable. Could you talk about that and what is your assessment of the risk right now of corruption as it relates to the work we're trying to do with the Afghan National Security Forces?"

McCaskill, who is a former Missouri State Auditor, has been a champion for eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government and has said that "one of the best ways to restore Americans' confidence in their federal government is to demonstrate that their tax dollars are being spent wisely." This spring she called for accountability for the military officials responsible for building a $36 million, 64,000 square foot facility in Afghanistan that was never used and was constructed over the objections of the top general in charge in that province.

McCaskill also discussed the possibility of rising terrorist factions in the region that are associated with the Islamic State, saying: "ISIL in Afghanistan, obviously this is a problem that we are seeing… all the factions in the Middle East are a challenge for us but in some ways they're also an advantage because there is this fractionalization that keeps everyone from uniting in terms of effective forces, and I'm worried about the conversion of some of the Taliban to ISIL, a loyalty situation, and would like your take on that. I noticed in your previous testimony you indicated that you're seeing a switch of allegiance of the Taliban in Pakistan to ISIL. If that is the case I certainly would like you to speak to that briefly because obviously Pakistan is a whole other bag of worries in light of the fact they have a nuclear capability."

McCaskill also indicated she will be looking forward to a full investigation of the recent airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Last year's annual defense bill included McCaskill's plan to prohibit taxpayer funding from use by the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund, and to prohibit unsustainable projects that cannot be overseen by American personnel. During her first term in the Senate, McCaskill waged a successful six-year battle to rein in wasteful wartime contracting practices in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ultimately passed into law the most expansive reforms to wartime contracting practices since World War II.

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