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US Senator Releases Report on Pentagon Mismanagement of Afghanistan Program

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A new report details chronic mismanagement by the Pentagon of a program designed to provide counterinsurgency intelligence experts to train members of the Afghan National Security Forces, US Senator Claire McCaskill's office said in a press release on Thursday.
Sputnik

"US Senator Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, today released a report detailing the Pentagon’s systemic mismanagement of the ‘Legacy’ program, a project to provide counterinsurgency intelligence experts to mentor and train Afghan National Security Forces.

A review by the Defense Contract Audit Agency that previously had not been released to the public showed $51 million in questionable costs, including the purchase of luxury vehicles, the release said.

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McCaskill is quoted saying in the release that, "the government did a report on this egregious waste and abuse, yet held no one accountable, and the company [Imperatis] continues to work on a government contract. The contractor should’ve been permanently disbarred years ago."

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Imperatis used a subcontractor, New Century Consulting (NCC) for most of the work on the Legacy program.  NCC was allowed to enter a subcontract with the major defense contractor Raytheon in April of 2016, that is still valid, the release added.

Afghanistan has been in a state of instability for years, particularly due to the activities of terrorist groups responsible for numerous attacks against both civilian and military targets.

The United States launched an anti-terrorist military operation in Afghanistan in 2001.

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In August 2017, Trump announced a new Afghanistan strategy, in which he pledged to continue US support for the Afghan government and military. Trump also said the mandate of US troops to target terrorists in Afghanistan would be expanded and approved sending an additional 4,000 troops to the country.

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