The U.S. government’s top watchdog on Afghanistan says the United States has contributed to the growth of corruption in the war-torn country and was slow to recognize the magnitude of the problem.
In a report released on September 14, the Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said "corruption undermined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by fueling grievances and channeling support to the insurgency."
"In Afghanistan today, corruption remains an enormous challenge to security, political stability, and development," SIGAR said.
SIGAR also said U.S. military and political aims "consistently trumped" the fight against corruption in Afghanistan.
It also added that anticorruption efforts "lacked sustained political commitment and saw limited success."
Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt counties in the world.
Afghanistan was at No. 166 in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, an annual ranking of countries.
