1 April 2019

Afghan Forces Could Turn Huns On Kabul Without U.S. Air Support, Cash and Troops, Among Other Warnings

by Kyle Rempfer

Afghanistan remains dependent on the U.S.-led coalition to combat insurgencies, pay Afghan troops, maintain oversight of corruption and generally just prevent the country from devolving into chaos.

That doesn’t bode well for the peace negotiations currently underway between U.S. and Taliban diplomatic teams.

A new series of warnings were introduced by John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, ahead of the release of SIGAR’s 2019 “High-Risk List” report.

SIGAR has made two previous High-Risk List reports, Sopko said, but this one is unique due to the ongoing peace negotiations to end America’s longest war.

The list is meant to highlight threats to what the U.S. and Afghan government have achieved after nearly two decades of conflict, more than 2,400 U.S. troop deaths and more than $780 billion spent on the country.

“SIGAR is not taking a position on whether a peace agreement is achievable, imminent or practicable,” said Sopko, who spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Thursday, in prepared remarks provided in advance to Military Times.

“Nor are we predicting or speculating in what context or scenarios a deal might emerge or what provisions it would or should include — that we leave to the administration and Congress.”…

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