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IPFS News Link • Military Industrial Complex

Report: We've Wasted $30B in Iraq, Afghanistan Commission offers proposals to improve contracts

• Matt Cantor, Newser Staff
The US has basically flushed $30 billion down the toilet, according to a bipartisan commission looking into the money spent on contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan. It found that at least one out of every six dollars spent in the last 10 years has been money wasted. In a report to be submitted to Congress Wednesday, the commission finds that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were begun “without adequate planning or contract-management personnel to handle the enormous scale and numbers of contracts,” write the group’s heads. And just as much money could go to waste all over again if the countries’ governments can't or won't maintain US-funded programs after we leave: The report cites $300 million we spent on a power plant that the Afghan government lacks the funds and expertise to run as an example. “Poor planning, inadequate competition, lax accountability, and subpar performance, or outright misconduct by some contractors and federal employees” are among the issues the report confronts.

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