HALIFAX, Nova Scotia
The United States will do its part to reduce corruption in Afghanistan by examining its own contracts and projects, even as it is demanding the same from the Afghan government, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.
He said that the U.S. can exert the most leverage when it is signing the checks.
"The place for us to start is to deal with corruption that may be associated with contracts we're letting or work that we're having done and development projects that we are undertaking in partnership with others including with the Afghans," Gates said.
Gates spoke to reporters at the historic military fort carved into Halifax's Citadel Hill, just before the start of the first Halifax International Security Forum, which is exploring a broad range of issues from Afghanistan and China to Arctic and port security.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has promised that he would do more to head off corruption that outside analysts say is rampant. But the newly re-elected leader has also chafed under international criticism of corruption in his government. He has pointed out that the flood of development cash into his country over the past eight years has promoted some of the graft.
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