The stark warning came from the outgoing inspector general for reconstruction in Afghanistan, Arnold Fields, who said the base-building effort was well off-course despite billions of dollars in funding.

Building is so behind schedule it is "questionable" if the work will be finished when US-led forces supposedly start winding down their mission in about two years time, Fields said.

NATO's strategy in Afghanistan hinges on gradually handing over authority to Afghan forces through 2014, but Washington and its allies face a daunting task trying to build up an army amid grinding poverty and years of war.

Appearing before the Commission on Wartime Contracting, Fields said the recruitment of Afghan soldiers and police was moving faster than the $11.4 billion work to build barracks and bases.

He said, "the projects are seriously behind schedule, making it doubtful that the construction efforts would keep pace with recruitment and training."

Of 884 bases scheduled to be finished in 2012 for Afghan security forces, only 133 have been completed, said Fields, a retired Marine major general.

He said 78 facilities were under construction while work on 673 bases had not even started.

There was also no long-term plan for building the bases and no sign that the Afghan government had the finances or expertise to maintain the facilities in the future, he said.

"We feel that the lack of this (comprehensive) plan could result in buildings that are inadequate in order to meet the long-term or short-term needs of the security forces.

"We conclude that the 11.4 billion (dollars) is at risk if these matters are not promptly addressed," he said.

Fields is due to step down next month as inspector general after being appointed in June 2008 by former president George W. Bush to review reconstruction spending.

The troubled plan to build Afghan bases reflected a wider problem with the entire reconstruction effort, officials said at the hearing.

The chairman of the commission, Michael Thibault, said a review of reconstruction projects launched last year found dismal results.

"While we did see some very well-run projects, there were many more examples -- too many examples -- of projects that were not going so well. Too many projects came in over-budget and behind schedule.

"So the amount of waste in our construction efforts quickly rises to staggering proportions," Thibault said.

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