Budgets and Bullets: Taking Stock of Afghanistan’s Security Forces

By Anthony H. Cordesman, John Sopko 

Statement for the Record: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko 

On May 13, 2015, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Mr. John Sopko, spoke at CSIS for the roll-out of the new Quarterly Report to Congress on the Status of the U.S. Reconstruction Effort in Afghanistan. The event was hosted and moderated by CSIS Alreigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Anthony Cordesman.

With a $62 billion investment in the development of Afghanistan's security institutions, and billions more expected to be appropriated every year for the foreseeable future, Special Inspector General Sopko discusses the current capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces and their prospects for long-term sustainability. His discussion focuses on SIGAR observations and audit work that call into question certain long-standing assumptions about Afghan forces, including whether current ANSF personnel numbers are accurate.

http://csis.org/files/publication/150513_sigar_speech.pdf