Congress is considering placing critical restrictions on the role of the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in ways that could either cripple it or become a preface to ending its role long before it has properly completed its mission, according to a commentary piece published by the Center for Strategic and International studies.
Draft legislation contains a provision that would limit the scope of SIGAR’s jurisdiction to only six reconstruction funds, said the piece by Anthony H. Cordesman, the center’s Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy.
“This is in contrast to an original statute which provides a comprehensive ‘whole of government’ authority to look at any reconstruction program, regardless of which agency or which funding stream is responsible for paying for it,” Cordesman wrote.
If the legislation passes, “SIGAR would no longer be permitted to look at many aspects of the U.S., Afghan, and allied sides of the war,” he wrote.
SIGAR should be allowed to continue its mission as long as the war continues, said Cordesman. Even after the war, it should take several years to develop a ‘final lessons” report on the conflict, he added.
“One can only learn from history through a serious effort to actually examine the past, and it is hardly necessary to point out that there are many aspects of the history of the Afghan War that the U.S. should not repeat,” Cordesman wrote.
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