House Armed Services Committee: Skelton on SIGAR Report Identifying Flaws in Assessing Capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces

House Armed Services Committee: Skelton on SIGAR Report Identifying Flaws in Assessing Capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces
Ike Skelton, Chairman
June 29, 2010

Skelton on SIGAR Report Identifying Flaws in Assessing Capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces

Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released the statement below on the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) report on serious flaws in the system used to assess the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF):

"Developing Afghan National Security Forces capable of providing security for the people of Afghanistan is critical to our success, so it does not do any good to rely on a flawed system that cannot actually show us if these forces are 'good enough'. While it is always troubling to receive an auditor's report of our failings in Afghanistan, I insisted on the creation of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to help us find and correct exactly these sorts of problems.

“I am pleased that the command in Afghanistan agrees that the ratings system is flawed and is changing the system based on the Special Inspector General's recommendation. Hopefully the new system will give us an accurate sense of the state and capability of the ANSF so we can focus our efforts and develop effective security forces in Afghanistan. As we continue to aggressively step up the fight against terrorists and win the war in Afghanistan, it is important to make sure that the ANSF are fully capable of standing on their own.”

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Afghanistan, HASC (House Armed Services Committee)