It was revealed today that the State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton wasted $6.5 million on communication towers in Afghanistan. The waste was revealed in a letter from John Sopko, the Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction.
The communication towers were once considered the “highest Strategic Communications priorities for the Department of State.” However, once the $6.5 million towers were built it was discovered there was no “State Department use for the towers.” The Special Inspector General’s letter states that the State Department ignored “a number of apparent red flags which were evident prior to the decision to commit over $6.5 million in U.S. taxpayer funds.” Among these red flags, the fact that State Department personnel, Department of Defense officers, and Afghan officials all expressed “serious concern” about the towers. Secretary Kerry’s State Department has now placed the towers up for auction to try and recover some of the money squandered under Secretary Clinton.
An earlier letter from Sopko clarifies that the towers were conceived and built during Secretary Clinton’s tenure.