Wartime Contracting Commission warns of huge risk from unsustainable projects

“ARLINGTON, VA, June 3, 2011 – U.S.-funded projects that the Iraqi and Afghan governments can’t operate or pay for on their own threaten to create billions of dollars of new waste of American taxpayers’ money, according to a special report released today by the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The report notes that “Potential waste from unsustainable projects exceeds $11 billion for just one program in Afghanistan, facilities construction for the national security forces.” The report points to other examples like a large power plant the Afghan government can’t afford to operate and an Iraqi water-treatment plant that is shut down much of the time and produces murky water when it does run.

Sustainability is a serious concern, the report says, because the U.S. military will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, and the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan begins in July. Yet many of the programs and projects carried out under federal contracts in the countries lack plans for staffing, technical support, and funding for the long term.

Read the rest of release by clicking on the headline and look for the report on Wednesday at the same location.