On DoD: John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

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On DoD: John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

On this week's On DoD, John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, says the role of an IG is to effectuate change. In his words, "If i...

Jared Serbu@jserbuWFED

October 1, 2014 3:00 pm

< a min read

On DoD – October 1, 2014

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Federal News Radio’s guest on this week’s edition of On DoD is John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). He heads up the independent IG’s office Congress set up in order to oversee contingency contracting in Afghanistan.

It’s unusually independent in the federal IG community in that it has the authority to investigate the activities of any federal agency, as long as the subject matter is Afghanistan reconstruction, and its budget is not controlled by any federal agency.

During the hour, host Jared Serbu talks with Sopko about some of the remaining challenges in the reconstruction process and also Sopko’s views on federal IGs’ roles in promoting transparency, a topic he’s addressed in several recent speeches. Sopko says he thinks the role of an IG is to effectuate change. In his words, “If it’s worth publishing, it’s worth publicizing.”