McCaskill asks for help in convincing president to fire Inspector General in Afghanistan

In her latest newsletter, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, asks constituents to send President Obama letters urging the firing of the special inspector general in Afghanistan:

One of our objectives in Afghanistan is rebuilding the country's infrastructure, and one of the people charged with ensuring our money is spent effectively is dropping the ball.


The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is supposed to oversee the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars sent to Afghanistan for reconstruction, but Arnold Fields (the man currently holding the job) has repeatedly failed to meet even minimal auditing standards.

He has been unable to account for where our money is going, and has no meaningful strategic plan for stemming the waste and fraud eating up billions of our aid dollars.

But the straw that broke the camel's back is the recent failing review the SIGAR received from his peers. The review found significant deficiencies in his ability to do audits or investigations, meaning that we have little to no ability to recover any wasted taxpayer money.

I recently sent a letter to President Obama asking him to replace Fields, but the White House has yet to act. I hope you can help get the message through.

Use our simple online tool to send President Obama a letter asking for the immediate replacement of our current SIGAR with one better prepared to protect our tax dollars and properly carry out the mission in Afghanistan.

We have a critical job to do in Afghanistan, and we are investing billions of American tax dollars to get it right. We can't let one man put it in jeopardy.

Throughout the reconstruction, we've seen evidence of millions of dollars wasted on contractor fraud and local corruption, and it is the SIGAR's job to make sure this stops. Yet Fields has repeatedly failed the bare minimum auditing tests for keeping track of where our money goes.

Just last year, my subcommittee on contracting oversight investigated $6 billion in contracts for training the Afghan National Police Force -- contracts Fields was supposed to oversee. But because of waste and poor oversight, we found little "training" to show for that investment.

We cannot let this continue: President Obama needs to replace the current SIGAR ASAP. My fellow senators and I are calling for action through official channels, but we need you to provide grassroots support.

Please take a moment send a letter to President Obama and ask him to fire the current SIGAR and replace him with someone who will competently and effectively protect our investments in Afghanistan.

We simply can't afford any more incompetence and waste -- our job in Afghanistan is too important, and too expensive, without the added hurdles of poor management.

Thank you for your help and attention on this important issue.