John Sopko Browse All Authors Top 10 quotes by John Sopko Although not all such attacks are expressly prohibited by the text, U.S. officials had said they expected the level of violence to remain low after the agreement came into effect. John Sopko I dont think it makes sense, the Afghan people know which districts are controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban obviously know which districts they control. Our military knows it. Everybody in Afghanistan knows it. The only people who dont know whats going on are the people who are paying for all of this, and thats the American taxpayer. John Sopko Including U.S. war funding unrelated to reconstruction, U.S. appropriations for Afghanistan now totals more than three quarters of a trillion dollars -- not including the $ 43.7 billion requested for fiscal year 2017. John Sopko We need to understand why U.S. and Afghan anticorruption efforts have consistently fallen short of their objectives, we need to understand how U.S. policies and practices unintentionally aided and abetted corruption, while fostering the perception among Afghans that the international-assistance effort is itself corrupt. John Sopko The bottom line is too much has been wasted in Afghanistan. Too much money was spent in too small a country with too little oversight, and if the security situation continues to deteriorate, even areas where money was spent wisely and gains were made, could be jeopardized. John Sopko Our agency wasn't created until half the money or more was spent. John Sopko If we can't get out there ... we can't see if the troops are getting shoes, or getting bullets, or getting grenades, or getting paid, and the security will have an impact on that. John Sopko We spent more money than we've spent in any country in the history of the United States, more money than the Marshall Plan, so it's big bucks, what does this tell us, so the next time we do this, maybe we can do a better job? So I actually think of all the things we do, that may be the legacy that I want to leave. John Sopko I am not really certain that it has been thought out. I hope it will be. I hope all my concerns are fruitless. John Sopko I couldn't find anybody who had read it. John Sopko
