Former US Inspector General Says International Institutions Profited From Afghanistan War Funds

Former United States Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko stated that international organizations, including the United Nations, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank, benefited financially from the American military campaign in Afghanistan. Speaking in an interview with VOA News, Sopko estimated that approximately sixty percent of US reconstruction funding was routed through these global institutions.

Sopko argued that inadequate oversight mechanisms allowed significant portions of the aid budget to be mismanaged. He also noted that US military operations and night raids resulted in civilian casualties, which in some cases drove survivors toward armed violence.

Former Afghan diplomat Aziz Moaraj echoed concerns regarding the distribution of foreign assistance. Moaraj stated that US aid programs suffered from a lack of strategic planning and financial controls, allowing institutions to exploit the system while failing to deliver resources to communities in need.

Economic analyst Abdul Shakoor Hahdwal provided further context on the utilization of international funds. Hahdwal claimed that less than twenty percent of foreign aid was deployed effectively, with the majority of resources lost to inefficiency and mismanagement.

The assessments highlight longstanding criticisms regarding the transparency and impact of reconstruction efforts during the two-decade international presence in Afghanistan. Officials and experts cited in the report emphasized that structural flaws in funding distribution ultimately limited the effectiveness of humanitarian and development programs.