U.S. Army and Pentagon leaders told lawmakers that the U.S. military is
stepping up efforts to fight corruption and monitor the flow of contracting
dollars into Afghanistan through the Host Nation Trucking contract by
increasing oversight, adding contracting officers and improving visibility
into subcontractor activity.
Speaking June 22 to the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign
Affairs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a panel of government
witnesses detailed a host of ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing
transparency and oversight of U.S. contracting dollars spent through the
Host Nation Trucking Contract in Afghanistan.
Among the steps being taken is a move at the CENTCOM Contracting Command
(C3) to add a new clause into Host Nation Trucking contracts which increases
transparency regarding subcontractors.
"This clause will give us greater visibility into banking and financial
efforts so we might be able to see if there is some kind of activity that is
a problem," said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips, principal military deputy
to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and
Technology.
The witnesses were asked about findings detailed in a Congressional report
which alleges that portions of the dollars spent of the Host Nation Trucking
contract are being skimmed off and paid as protection money to warlords -
and possibility insurgents - to ensure the safe passage of supplies on the
Afghan roadways.
"We must be self-aware of how our massive footprint in Afghanistan can
affect such a sensitive environment," said U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D- Ma.,
Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.
Phillips - who previously served as the Commander of Joint Contracting
Command for Iraq and Afghanistan -- said the Army will act decisively in
the event of evidence of wrongdoing.
"We take the allegations very seriously. I don't think anyone would argue
that there is corruption that exists inside Afghanistan. I think that is
clear if you look at what some of the senior leaders have said," said
Phillips. "We look for the hard evidence that we can stand behind to take
action to correct behavior or terminate a contract. Our contracts and our
clauses prohibit that kind of activity. If there was criminal activity or
bribery I assure you that under my command contract officers would have
taken quick action," said Phillips.
The Host Nation Trucking contract in Afghanistan, which has run more than
50,000 trucking missions in the last year, accounts for more than 90-percent
of food, water, ammunition, construction materials, and other key supplies
deliveries to US Forces in Afghanistan.
"The Host Nation Trucking contract is vital to the sustainment of our forces
in Afghanistan. Contracting for, obtaining, and overseeing services in an
austere environment, in a fragile economy with a poor financial system,
limited rule of law and during hostilities is a dangerous and difficult task
that is being performed daily throughout Afghanistan," Phillips told the
Committee.
The Host Nation Trucking contract is seen by U.S. leaders as a vital element
of Afghan reconstruction.
"We intend to more effectively link U.S. contracting dollars to desired
operational effects and a winning COIN {counter insurgency} strategy in
Afghanistan," Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, director of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan Coordination Cell, the Joint Staff, told the
Subcommittee.
Also, Nicholson talked about the recently formed Task Force 2010 - directed
by the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- aimed at increasing visibility of U.S.
contracting dollars flowing into Afghanistan with a mind to improving
transparency regarding how money moves from contractors to subcontractors
and ultimately, to the Afghan people.
"This involves an integrated effort at all levels to gain visibility of
money flow, understand and shape perceptions of the Afghan people, correct
the behavior of some Afghan contractors, and gain an awareness and level of
control over the second order effects of U.S. contract spending on the
environment," said Nicholson. "
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