A bi-partisan commission says the United States government has wasted $US30 billion in contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past decade.
The commission on wartime contracting blamed an over-reliance on contractors, poor planning and fraud for the waste.
The BBC reports American taxpayers spent $US40 million on a prison that Iraq did not want and was never finished.
Some $US300 million were poured into a sophisticated power plant in Kabul which the Afghan government will not be able to run.
The commission of eight, which includes former government officials and lawmakers, makes the recommendation to be more rigorous when deciding whether a project should be contracted out.
But it also recommends cancelling or modifying any projects that are not sustainable.
