AFGHAN OFFICIALS AIR CONCERNS TO SIGAR ON USAGE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 002797

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2018
TAGS: PREL KWAC AF
SUBJECT: AFGHAN OFFICIALS AIR CONCERNS TO SIGAR ON USAGE OF
RECONSTRUCTION FUNDS

Classified By: Ambassador William Wood for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Special Inspector General for Afghan
Reconstruction (SIGAR) Arnold Fields heard two common themes
during meetings with the GIRoA Auditor General and senior
Afghan MOD and MOI officials: A) that there is insufficient
coordination between Afghanistan and the Donor Community,
including the U.S.; and B) that there is a perception among
the general Afghan public that aid funds are not bringing
expected improvements to their daily lives.


2. (U) On September 24, the SIGAR met with the Afghan Auditor
General, with auditors and inspectors general from the
Control and Audit Office at the MOD, and with Interior
Minister Zarar. The SIGAR explained that Congress had
established his office to ensure that U.S. and other
reconstruction funds in Afghanistan are used to achieve the
purposes for which they were appropriated. He asked each of
his hosts whether they believed that funds directed to
Afghanistan for reconstruction are employed appropriately
under the current strategic approach.


3. (U) GIRoA representatives in the MOD and the Auditor
General,s office said more U.S. technical assistance in
their function would be welcome and asked the SIGAR to help
them curb contractor corruption, avoid civilian casualties,
and expand capacity building efforts. Some had specific
complaints. End Summary.

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Auditor General Sharifi
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4. (SBU) Auditor General, Minister Sharifi said that in the
seven-years that the U.S. has been making significant
financial contributions to Afghanistan, that there has been
no relationship between the Afghan Auditor General,s and the
U.S. GAO. He expressed certainty that his office could learn
new techniques from the GAO to help bring transparency and
international standards to the Afghan government. Sharifi
ended the meeting by asking the SIGAR to find a way to create
a relationship between his office and the GAO. (Note: The
GAO reportedly has plans to meet with Afghan counterparts in
the near future. End note.)


5. (SBU) According to Sharifi, last year the GIRoA was unable
to use approximately 45 percent of its development budget due
to lack of capacity, both lack of qualified personnel and
lack of administrative capacity to initiate reconstruction
projects in certain areas. (Note: The money that was not used
has been rolled over into this year,s budget. The Paris
Conference, aware of the same issues that Sharifi cited,
estimated that execution of the development budget would only
be 55 percent. End Note)


6. (SBU) Sharifi also discussed the challenges of having
ministers who have been outside of their own country for
35-years returning to take charge of a dynamic they no longer
understand. He also expressed concerns about illiterate
governors who hire unskilled personnel.

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MOD Deputy Minister Akram Khan
-------------- ---

7. (SBU) Deputy Minister of Defense, General Akram Khan
welcomed the &good news8 recently conveyed by Secretary of
Defense Gates that the Afghan National Army (ANA) will
expand. He said expansion would help with Afghan efforts to
defend the country during the winter, provide highway and
election security, and with the new Afghan responsibility for
Kabul security. Asked whether the billions of donor and
Afghan funds were being directed at the right issues to
achieve peace, security and development, Khan spoke
positively of ANA development under Coalition tutelage. He
pointed, however, to some lack of coordination between ANA
and coalition forces on training, and singled out shortages
in quality weaponry and ammunition, especially heavy weapons,
as problems.


8. (SBU) He expressed concern about slow development of an
Afghan air force. &Foreign pilots are not familiar with our
customs. Afghan pilots would better distinguish harmless
gatherings from clusters of fighters,8 he said. General
Akram Khan acknowledged the difficulty of completely avoiding
collateral damage when civilians are being used as human
shields, but he urged better ANA-Coalition coordination.


9. (U) Addressing the broader question, Khan said that the
GIRoA would always prefer to be receive aid funds directly to
spend on GIRoA determined priorities. However, he
acknowledged major advances--the Ring Road and wider
education for children, including 1 million girls, for
example--had been achieved.


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MOD Inspector General Abdul Fazil
-------------- --------------

10. (SBU) Abdul Fazil, MOD Inspector General, outlined the
extensive training his auditors received to bring them in
line with U.S. standards, and expressed appreciation for U.S.
assistance. Later, however, he spoke of &difficulties8 and
listed his main problems as: (A) lack of discussion within
the MOD on overall strategy and a resulting lack of general
direction; and (B) slow adaptation away from a Russian-style
system of accountability, which could be helped by greater
Coalition guidance. &Our audit system is in chaos,8 he
said.

-------------- -
ANA Inspector General MG Khan
-------------- -

11. (SBU) MG Khan, who has held his position of Inspector
General of the Afghan Army for only two months, said that
much donor money is not spent effectively. He cited concerns
that contractors promise high quality products to win USG
contracts in Afghanistan, but switch out the goods for low
quality items when they deliver. Some construction projects,
he said, could have been done for 60 percent of what was
paid. MG Khan had an aide bring in a bag of products and
pointed out the poor quality items in basic Army toiletry
kits, shoes and uniforms. He also complained that that the
MOD auditing policy is different from that dictated by the
Council of Ministers, presenting the two documents as
evidence.

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Interior Minister Zarar
--------------

12. (U) MOI Minister Zarar, replaced since this conversation,
convened his top police commanders for the meeting with the
SIGAR. When asked whether he thought funds were properly
used in Afghanistan reconstruction efforts, Zarar gave a long
presentation of facts and figures touting progress on 23
MOI-led projects involving training and capacity building of
the Afghan National Police (ANP). He cited a need for funds
for additional projects to allow the ANP to develop capacity
in mine detection, fire fighting, and air support to evacuate
the injured from remote areas.


13. (SBU) Zarar said 203 cases of corruption and bribery
among the police force had been sent to the Attorney General
for prosecution. Noting that real rule of law crosses the
domains of police, the attorney general and judges, Zarar
said that prosecutors and judges in Afghanistan are weak, and
that the cycle of law enforcement is therefore not complete.
WOOD