CORRUPTION IN CONFLICT

and helping to fund the enemy. The report focused on the security of the
supply chain; a related issue was the vulnerability of commodities, such as fuel
(see box 1).
Another 2010 congressional staff report, Mystery at Manas: Strategic Blind Spots
in the Department of Defense’s Fuel Contracts in Kyrgyzstan, echoed the same
theme. DOD had awarded two contracts for the supply of fuel to a transit center
in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, a hub for U.S. troops and supplies going to Afghanistan.
There were allegations of corruption from 2002 to 2010 so serious that they helped
foment two revolutions in Kyrgyzstan; the Kyrgyz public believed the United
States used the fuel contracts to bribe two Kyrgyz presidents. 242
As a result of the two congressional staff reports and others, momentum built
for the reform of U.S. contracting in contingency operations. U.S. government
agencies operating in Afghanistan, particularly DOD and USAID, took a hard look
at their practices.
BOX 1: “FUELING” CORRUPTION
Fuel is “liquid gold” in Afghanistan—easy to steal and sell on the black
market. No single commodity has been as important to the reconstruction
effort in Afghanistan as fuel, and no commodity has been at such risk of
being stolen or wasted. 243 As of September 2014, the Defense Logistics
Agency had supplied more than 2.5 billion gallons of fuel to support
U.S. personnel and Afghan security forces, at a cost of more than
$12 billion. 244
The theft of fuel has mainly occurred during fuel truck movements. 245
Because DOD outsourced fuel deliveries to Afghan companies, it often
lost visibility of and control over subcontracted fuel trucks between their
departure from a loading facility and arrival at their destination. 246 Trucks
were often short of fuel upon arriving at a base, and drivers attempted
to bribe base personnel to sign paperwork certifying that a full load was
delivered. In other cases, trucks arrived with a full load, but drivers sought
to have only a portion of the fuel offloaded, leaving some fuel in the tank
to be taken off base and sold.
Almost all the large fuel theft schemes investigated by SIGAR included
U.S. military personnel and, in some cases, contract civilian personnel.
The personnel either signed falsified paperwork or were complicit in
creating false documents that purported to authorize trucks to take fuel
and deliver it elsewhere.
Fuel theft not only robs U.S. taxpayers and damages the reconstruction
effort, but military operations can be jeopardized when needed fuel
is stolen or otherwise diverted. Impending operations may force a
commander to accept what fuel he can and forgo accountability processes
to ensure mission success. Stolen fuel and associated profits can also
wind up in the hands of insurgent groups.
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SIGAR I CORRUPTION IN CONFLICT I SEPTEMBER 2016