Report: U.S. funded Afghan units that violated human rights

[Borealis]

[URL]https://www.axios.com/sigar-report-us-continued-funding-afghan-units-1516823440-5e85e319-7f02-4ff5-8716-ab6a1955d815.html[/URL]

[QUOTE]A [URL="https://sigar.mil/pdf/inspections/SIGAR%2017-47-IP.pdf"]report[/URL] from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reveals that as of Aug. 12, 2016, seven reports of child sexual assault from Afghan security forces were being tracked by the State and Defense Departments. One was found credible, and five are still under review.

Why it matters: Per SIGAR, the DOD has continued funding Afghan forces that were implicated in human rights violations.

The "Leahy laws," which stem from a joint forum between the DOD and State, require that U.S. funding be cut if the departments have "credible information that a unit of a foreign security force has committed a gross violation of human rights."

Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col Mike Andrews, said in a statement:[I] "The SIGAR report acknowledges that there is no evidence the DoD condones gross violations of human rights by Afghan Security Forces, or provided guidance telling service members to ignore any instances...The Department of Defense has never used the notwithstanding authority to continue assistance to a member of the Afghan forces or an Afghan unit as a result of a determination that allegations of child sexual assault were credible."[/I][/QUOTE]

[Revenge282]

Why would we stop funding Afghan security forces after leaving Afghanistan? Especially because there were a fraction of a percentile of people who did a (very) bad thing?

I don't mean to play down the crimes or the victims at all. But to make the claim that we should defund, or otherwise funded these crimes is asinine.

[elix]

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53081151]Why would we stop funding Afghan security forces after leaving Afghanistan? Especially because there were a fraction of a percentile of people who did a (very) bad thing?

I don't mean to play down the crimes or the victims at all. But to make the claim that we should defund, or otherwise funded these crimes is asinine.[/QUOTE]
Ideally, any group receiving funding through the DOD like this would be informed of the condition and wouldn't war crime.

Punishments have no effect if you don't use them.

Besides, to do otherwise means the US condones funding, however minor or indirectly, human rights violations.

[Mr. Someguy]

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;53081471]Ideally, any group receiving funding through the DOD like this would be informed of the condition and wouldn't war crime.

Punishments have no effect if you don't use them.

Besides, to do otherwise means the US condones funding, however minor or indirectly, human rights violations.[/QUOTE]

Yeah but here's the thing about Afghan security forces (or any other in the region), it's an impossible standard. These forces are terribly disciplined and highly corrupt, and all of our time there was not able to rectify that. There are soldiers and even military units that just act on their own accord with disregard for anything else. We may as well not fund them at all since it's not a question of [I]if[/I], it's a question of [I]how often[/I].

[Harbie]

I mean that headline basically describes the US's approach to the middle east for the last 40 years. :V

[Glitchvid]

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;53081471]Besides, to do otherwise means the US condones funding, however minor or indirectly, human rights violations.[/QUOTE]

That has stopped the US before?