Sleep with dogs . . .

. . . wake up with fleas:

WASHINGTON -- The American general who led NATO's training mission in Afghanistan opposed an inspector general's investigation into "Auschwitz-like conditions" and corruption at the main Afghan army military hospital, two retired U.S. military officers are telling Congress.

The retired officers, in testimony prepared for a House hearing Tuesday, said Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV admonished subordinates for contacting the Defense Department's inspector general about Dawood National Military Hospital . . . .

Retired Army Col. Gerald Carozza Jr., who was chief of legal development assisting the Afghan Army and defense ministry, said Caldwell at one point expressed concern that the request was too close to the 2010 congressional elections. But Carozza added that in his view, Caldwell "did not want the request to go to the DOD IG (Department of Defense inspector general) at all . . . ."

In September 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported from Kabul that U.S. officers found that patients at the hospital were routinely dying of simple infections and starving to death, while corrupt doctors and nurses demanded bribes for food and basic care.

I missed this story last year, but nothing bad written about that country will much surprise me.  As I reported over a year ago, it is well known both in ISAF and among the Afghan people that a large fraction of the billions in “aid” we send that country wind up pocketed by corrupt officials, and a large fraction of that winds up going to the Taliban.

The allegation that Gen. Caldwell thwarted the investigation into the hospital for partisan political purposes, if true, surprises even a hard-bitten cynic like me.  I assume, of course, that all flag officers are hacks, but I’m pretty sure this would be a new low.