It's not only the Aghans who have had their hand in the till

Our own soldiers have. The Center for Public Integrity has published a report which documents over $50,000,000 stolen by our military personnel from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, the Inspectors General for the countries say the convictions so far constitute a small portion of the crimes they think were committed by U.S. military personnel in the two countries.

So much theft has occurred because of a heavy dependence on cash transactions, a hasty award process for high-value contracts, loose and harried oversight within the ranks, and a regional culture of corruption that proved seductive to the American troops transplanted there. The crimes were committed by both officers and enlisted men.

The key findings of the report: 

Since 2005, 115 U.S. service members have been convicted of crimes valued at more than $50 million in Iraq and Afghanistan, including stealing, rigging contracts, and taking bribes. 

The U.S. military’s dependence on large cash transactions, its hasty contract award process, the absence of serious oversight, and a culture of local corruption helped lure U.S. service members to commit these crimes.

U.S. Inspectors General for Iraq and Afghanistan say that far more fraud has been committed by military personnel than has been prosecuted so far. 

Several soldiers who participated in crimes say they saw colleagues doing it, and viewed the chances of getting caught as slim.

Investigators of these crimes say that their work has been stymied by the challenge of tracking down funds in foreign bank accounts, and that courts sometimes impose lighter penalties than they think the crimes deserve.