Billions In U.S. Aid Wasted In Afghanistan

Lara Logan Reports That On The Reconstruction Burden When Projects Go Unfinished

(CBS)  American doctor Dave Warner is on a mission in eastern Afghanistan to show people back home how billions of taxpayer dollars sent here are being wasted.

“When I was here in December,” Warner told CBS News chief forign correspondent Lara Logan. “This was full so you can see they've dug another pit over here.”

Rotting bio-waste is dumped in the hospital's backyard because as Warner and the hospital director showed us next — the new waste incinerator donated by the U.S. government is completely useless. Even if the hospital knew how to run it, they can't afford the fuel.

“It’s not used very often … at all,” he said.

It was a gift from the American people.

“Isn’t that nice?” Warner said.

Warner is a public health expert from San Diego who's taken it upon himself to do what no one else in Afghanistan seems to be doing — documenting the failures in reconstruction. He says the system can't be fixed unless those responsible first admit that it's broken.

But it's a hard sell. Warner says he has tried to report his findings to officials at the Pentagon.

“I was brought aside and they told me, don't tell that story,” Warner said. “I said why not. And they said well, this is one of our success stories.”

A success story that quickly turned to disappointment for the hospital when they discovered that this septic truck donated by the United States with brand new tires and a new coat of paint wasn't new at all — in fact it's at least 60-years-old.

The hospital's plumbing system is new, and certified as complete by the U.S. agency who funded it. But it's a disaster. Blood poured out of an open drain when Logan was there.

Open drains should have been covered — a fact Warner pointed out more than a year ago to those in charge of the project but no one would take responsibility and finish the job. Warner says leaving it to the Afghans is unrealistic.

“They have no resources, so every time we leave something 80 percent of the way, that more than overwhelms their capacity,” he said.

It's inside the hospital that you really see how overwhelmed the hospital is. Surgical instruments are sterilized in a pressure cooker.

Babies are kept two or three to one bed. And critically ill babies have to share oxygen — there's barely enough power to run these two machines.

Newborns with jaundice also have to share fluorescent lights because of the limited power.

“This is what the people have,” Warner said, referencing average Afghanis. “Yes, when you are talking about hearts and minds, these are the hearts.”

Hearts that the United States is failing to win, Warner says, because the system is failing them.

[zabul-2009]

Billions wasted.....You are using an example of one location to determine the waste? Most of Afghanistan was reduced to rubble in the past 25 years of conflict. An incinerator for the hospital? They probably don''t choose to use it as they may not understand the function. Have Mr. Warner ask the villagers of Shajoy (Zabul)how many new businesses now occupy their bazaar since the KK road has been built. How about at least one story on USAID projects that not only provided jobs for Afghans in remote areas, but developed sustained businesses that will be around long after the reconstruction is over. How about a couple of stories where US Taxpayer funded projects resulted in Afghans developing their own construction companies rather than picking up arms in support of the Taliban......Can''t find these examples? Why not ask guys who live and work in the provinces for the terms of their contracts as opposed to Kabul Klowns......There are shortcomings in SOME aid projects I agree. But next time you head out of the parking lot to enter the building where you work here in the states think of this.....How much waste would you produce if guys behind parked cars rake you with automatic weapons fire on your way to the door once or twice a week.....and how much would your company have to pay you to do it....Be sure and tell the kids at Yak Py they are attending school in waste. Don''t know where that is? What a waste! By the way, I''m a registered Democrat......suprised? Another waste!

[armybrat05]

Certainly there is a great deal of good being done throughout Afghanistan now that the central Afghan government''s influence reaches out into the provinces beyond Kabul. That is in large part due to the US military and ISAF forces bringing the fight to the country side and religating the Taliban and other terrorist/bandits to the mountains. Thats a fight that is still being waged and will probably continue for another 5 or more years.
None the less, there is much waste and many projects that I have personally seen there are managed not from the stand point of improving the lot of the Afghan people but of making the donnor agency/country rich or giving them a success story they can use to justify their existence.
Ask the simple question of how many foreigners vs Afghans are employed on the millions or billions of dollars of construction projects in their country? The answer is very few and the Afghan people wonder why they are not getting the jobs that are going to the Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Eguiptians, Germans, US and others. This creates a great deal of resentment and if you listen you will hear it from the Afghan people.
Why not establish trade skill journeyman schools in the major cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Jalalabad, Moser-i-sherif etc so that the Afghan people can learn the skills they need to fill these construction jobs?
Catch a fish for a man and you feed him a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
TWR

[happyausable]

It''s great they have got schools for both the boys and the girls,roads for new business,cleaner water and much more. We are going to have to have alot more aide coming to keep all this in place.More schools for adults,more help at the hospital too. They do need to go back and make rite all the needs at the hospital,sanitary ones. And support it! What good is it if you can read,but haven''t learned about sanitary conditions to keep the ill alive?? They must be shown and taught how to get well and stay well,by not spreading germs. How can we do this,to begin,when no one is making the effort to secure a clean and working hospital? You may think that these are small things but they are not! I can''t blame the doctor for needing to say something about the hospitals problems! I pray he can get this problem resolved some how without too much red tape. Who do we talk to?? A hospital without proper plumbing? Please think about it. A incinerator that can''t work properly and they need fuel? A must to have.The hospital needs more electricity? What''s wrong with some windmills and some storage for electicity? We did start this and for some reason things didn''t turn out up to operating properly mode. We need to help fix it and it wouldn''t take much. Think about it!