Fred Weir yesterday

 Some things shouldn't fall completely through the cracks, even if the pace of current news is intense and momentous.

In that spirit, let me draw attention to the final report of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which has just been issued. I only scanned it -- I, too, have other priorities at the moment -- but enough to realize that its findings are even more appalling than we might have expected. Apparently the US spent more on Afghan "reconstruction" in adjusted dollars than it did on European recovery after W.W. II. It spent $90 billion on creating the Afghan security forces, a force that evaporated within days after the US pulled the plug. The amounts of money SIGAR found to have been wasted or stolen make the current corruption scandal in Ukraine look picayune by comparison. [But pause to consider just how much corruption has been a regular feature of US-backed wars since, and including, Vietnam].

Whatever we want to think of Trump, and his erratic and often cold-blooded behavior, how can anyone suppose that a sweeping correction in US foreign policy was not long overdue?

I asked Google's handy AI instrument to summarize the main revelations of the SIGAR report, and here is what it gave me:

The final report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), published in December 2025, concluded that the two-decade-long U.S. reconstruction effort failed to deliver stability or democracy and was marked by pervasive

waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. The mission's outcome should serve as a "cautionary tale" for future reconstruction efforts.

Key Findings of the Final SIGAR Report

* Systemic Failure and Rapid Collapse: The report stated that the rapid collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021 exposed a fragility that had been hidden by years of overly optimistic public assertions of progress.

* Massive Financial Waste: Between $26 billion and $29 billion of the $148 billion allocated for Afghan reconstruction was lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. One earlier report estimated that 20% of all U.S. aid was wasted.

* Creation of Dependency: The relentless pursuit of quick results and reconstruction projects created a perpetual dependency on the U.S. government, which paradoxically fueled corruption and sometimes strengthened the insurgency.

* Ignoring the Context: The U.S. government consistently underestimated the time required for rebuilding and failed to understand the local Afghan context, leading to the development of unsustainable institutions and infrastructure projects. For instance, facilities were sometimes built without consultation, leading to buildings being used for unintended purposes, such as one case where a $26 million facility was used as a chicken coop.

* Corruption Undermined Efforts: Pervasive corruption was a significant issue that U.S. officials often overlooked because they prioritized security and political goals. Efforts to reduce the poppy and opium trade were also a major failure, with Afghanistan remaining the world's largest opium supplier despite $7.3 billion spent on counter-narcotics missions.

* Lack of Oversight and Accountability: U.S. government agencies rarely conducted sufficient monitoring and evaluation to understand the true impact of their efforts.

* Stonewalling by Administration: After the 2021 withdrawal, the Biden administration initially stonewalled SIGAR's investigations, claiming its jurisdiction had ended, a move that required pressure from Congress to resume cooperation.

The report emphasized that if the U.S. government had acted on SIGAR's frequent warnings over the years, the outcome might have been different. The final report is available on the official SIGAR website.