US has spent billions of dollars on failed attempts to stabilize situation in Afghanistan

Beijing. May 25. Silkroadnews - Analysis conducted by the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction showed Washington’s programs were not properly adapted for Afghanistan, and successes in stabilizing Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physical presence of coalition troops and civilians, the Afghan Telegraph Agency (AfTAG) reported.
The United States has spent billions of dollars trying to stabilize the situation in the regions of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2017, yet some efforts have caused more harm than good, the report said, the Financial Express wrote.
The report notes that Washington set unrealistic goals after the 2001 invasion and overestimated its ability to build and reform the state institutions.
“Despite some heroic efforts to stabilize insecure and contested areas in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2017, the program mostly failed,” the agency cited Special Inspector General John Sopko, presenting a report in Washington.
“This happened for a number of reasons, including the establishment of a set of unrealistic expectations about what could be achieved in just a few years’ time.” The report found that the military pressured aid groups to build schools and infrastructure in areas that were still being contested by the Taliban, leading to the failure of many projects.
“Opportunities for corruption and elite capture abounded, making many of those projects far more harmful than helpful,” the article reads.