The Christian Science Monitor reports that “the US government has inadvertently empowered warlords and nurtured corruption in Afghanistan, warns a strikingly candid new report from the Pentagon that offers a devastating window into worthy US intentions that ended in exorbitant waste.”  

“The initial US focus on defeating the Taliban and Al Qaeda created mutually dependent relationships between the US government and Afghan warlords ‘that empowered these warlords’ and ‘expanded their opportunities for financial gain,’ according to the study, which was produced by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s ‘lessons learned’ department.  

“This was caused in large part by a ‘deluge’ of military spending that ‘overwhelmed’ the Afghan government’s ability to absorb it and later encouraged spending habits and graft that impeded the US war effort, the report concludes.”