FAIL: State Dept. Spent $3.6 Million on Afghan Goat Carcass Game, and That’s Just the Start of It

Buzkashi, the national sport of Afghanistan, is a
fascinating game that’s sort of like a cross between polo and
rugby, except that instead of a ball you play with a headless goat
carcass. I recommend you watch it
sometime, and apparently, the State Department does, too.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR) John Sopko suspects something is “seriously wrong” and
wants to know what
the hell is going on. Earlier this month he sent a
letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking about a bizarre
boondoggle in which the State Department paid millions to film the
sport:

The contract originally specified five trucks at a cost of $6
million (three satellite/microwave television broadcast trucks at
the unit price of $1,786,779, two Ford ES350 trucks at a unit price
of $157,300 and various communications equipment). The primary use
of the vehicles was for “live sporting events, such as Buzkashi,
Soccer, Cricket and other sports.”2 On September 16, 2013, the
contract was amended to require only 3 trucks, at a cost of $3.6
million (one satellite/microwave television broadcast truck at the
unit price of $1,589,557 and two Ford ES350 trucks at a unit price
of $568,062).3 SIGAR has been told that the contractor received
unspecified compensation for costs incurred under the original
contract.

The trucks were supposed to be delivered
way back in August 2011. In fact, they didn’t arrive until
September 2014, and Sopko’s got photographic proof that they’re
just sitting there covered in tarp. Sopko also wants to know why
the “two Ford ES350 trucks (originally priced at $157,300 each)
more than tripled in price, to $568,062 each under the subsequent
contract modification.”

SIGAR brought the mess to light on Friday by shaming the State Department
on Twitter about it.

This is a case of the U.S. using soft power, trying to co-opt
and promote Afghanistan’s culture, whereas the Taliban hated and
banned Buzkashi. But, why did it have to cost so much? People
already film Buzkashi. C’mon, it’s 2014, and just like everything
else it’s all
over Youtube. Presumably, most of them have cheaper equipment,
whether it’s traditional film gear or the increasingly inexpensive
high quality tools like cellphone cameras. Millions of dollars
spent on an obscure sport in of a mere 30 million people seems
undue, especially since there are bigger issues like
opium production being at an all-time high.

Sopko’s got a lot of problems on his plate trying to reconstruct
Afghanistan. He’s also investigating why the U.S. military spent
about $500 million on cargo planes for Afghan troops. The planes
were hardly ever used and then they were sold for
$32,000 in scrap.