Civilian Afghan surge cost US $2 bln

US: A surge of U.S. civilian advisers into Afghanistan has cost nearly $2 billion so far, a U.S. government watchdog said on Thursday, calculating the price of an important part of President Obama’s war strategy.

U.S. development experts are not much cheaper than the cost of sending soldiers to Afghanistan, according to data in the audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR. The report said it was costing between $410,000 and $570,000 to deploy one civilian U.S. government employee to Afghanistan for a year.

By comparison, costs per U.S. soldier per year in Afghanistan grew to $697,000 this year from $667,000 in 2010 and $507,000 in 2009, the Congressional Research Service says.

The Obama administration announced an increase in civilian advisers experts on matters ranging from agriculture to courts to Afghanistan in 2009 to accompany an influx of over 30,000 U.S. combat troops there.

Part of what was dubbed a “smart power” strategy, the idea was to build on military gains with improvements in the lives of ordinary Afghans. Diplomats and development experts were sent to help boost economic growth as well as improve Afghan governing capacity and the rule of law.

The number of U.S. civilian employees in Afghanistan increased to 1,040 by June of this year from 320 in early 2009, said the audit by SIGAR, undertaken with the State Department’s inspector general.

In June, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Congress the civilian surge had peaked.

But she did not discuss how quickly the numbers might be drawn down.

The SIGAR report comes as pressure is building in Congress to cut unpopular foreign aid programs in a time of austerity.

Lawmakers have already reduced some Afghan aid due to corruption concerns, and may slash further if they feel programs are too pricey. Washington, Friday, Reuters