Pentagon Wastes $30 Million on Wrong Afghan Military Uniforms

Huge cash — US$30 million to be exact — was shelled out from Pentagon coffers for Afghan Army uniforms. But U.S. officials would soon learn that the uniform order was the wrong color for actual combat because it was based on a military officials' personal inclination, according to Sputnik.

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The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, a U.S. agency charged with the reconstruction of Afghanistan, released a report detailing how former defense minister for Kabul Abdul Rahim Wardak, relied on his personal whim in color selection as opposed to following protocol of color coordination.

The multimillion-dollar mistake occurred when Rahim Wardak was browsing the internet and “ran across” an intriguing camouflage pattern.

According to the SIGAR report, Rahim Wardak was literally mesmerized by the “woodland, urban, and temperate patterns,” despite Afghanistan being roughly 95 percent desert.

The report concluded that the U.S. Department of Defense's decision “to procure ANA uniforms using a propriety camouflage pattern was not based on an evaluation of its appropriateness for the Afghan environment” and that Rahim Wardak justified his decision by claiming that the Taliban and other opponents wouldn't be able to afford the high-priced uniform.

Sputnik reported that Rahim Wardak's decision in 2008 resulted in the United States spending roughly US$30 million on the non-proprietary camouflage uniform from Canadian firm HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation.

The SIGAR report emphasized that "neither DOD nor the Afghan government knows whether the ANA uniform is appropriate to the Afghan environment, or whether it actually hinders their operations by providing a more clearly visible target to the enemy."