Washington, January 30 (RHC)-- The U.S. Defense Department has decided to keep secret its massive spending in Afghanistan, according to Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
“[The Pentagon] is about to come and scrub our computers of the data,” Alex Bronstein-Moffl, SIGAR’s director of public affairs, told Fusion.
According to a report by SIGAR, the institution can no longer track how billions of American taxpayer dollars are being spent in Afghanistan.
“The decision leaves SIGAR unable to publicly report on most of the $65 billion US-taxpayer-funded efforts to build, train, equip, and sustain the ANSF. This includes Afghan troop numbers, salaries, training, equipment (including planes and helicopters), and infrastructure projects,” SIGAR said in a release.
According to the release, the decision is unprecedented as it would make SIGAR, for the first time in six years, unable to publicly report on US military spending in that country. U.S. Army Commanding Gen. John Campbell wrote a letter to the Inspector General saying the Pentagon made the decision for possible threats posed to “our forces and those of Afghanistan.” However, Campbell said that he cannot give the “precise reason” why some of the information was regarded as unclassified in the past.
Observers say that the Pentagon decision would blur the assessment of the outcome of U.S. war in Afghanistan as well as the state of the campaign against the Taliban.