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Updated 2 hours ago
The old saying “It takes two to tango” is as valid regarding corruption as it is for ballroom dancing. That makes the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction's latest quarterly report to Congress especially disheartening, as it spotlights Americans accused or convicted of taking bribes.
Just in 2016's final three months, such cases yielded “one conviction and six sentencings, nearly $2 million in criminal fines and the recovery of $320,000,” according to NBC News. The SIGAR report's “gallery of greed” highlights U.S. military members linked to corruption involving American forces' Humanitarian Assistance Yard at Bagram Airfield near Kabul.
“The Yard” stores “millions of dollars' worth of clothing, food, school supplies and other items purchased from local Afghan vendors,” according to SIGAR. It found U.S. personnel accepting bribes — including Rolex watches — “to steer supply-purchase business to favored vendors.” Those convicted deserve fines and prison time.
Their detestable dealings also show that corruption in Afghanistan is as much an American problem as it is an Afghan problem. And that's another reason to end America's nation-building folly there, which has cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $117 billion over 15 years — but still hasn't decisively defeated the Taliban or ISIS or base human greed, which knows no national or ethnic boundaries.
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