Following President Barack Obama's speech last week announcing his plan to send another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the national debate over Afghanistan continues. Opposition to Obama's surge comes from the left and the right of the political spectrum, with many critics arguing that Afghanistan is unwinnable, especially given the current government headed by President Hamid Karzai, which is widely seen as barely competent and broadly corrupt.

But beyond disagreement over whether U.S. efforts can prevail in turning Afghanistan into a marginally functional state while also defeating terror groups based there and in neighboring Pakistan, there is the issue of the cost of the effort, in lives and money.

The gravity of sending 30,000 additional American soldiers to Afghanistan cannot be overstated. And while the cost of lives lost is incalculable, the cost in dollars can be measured. And that's an area where many Americans will argue that the cost is too high, because the waste is so great.

During a time when the U.S. economy remains weak and the infrastructure at home is in need of major investments, many argue that the billions of dollars borrowed for the Afghanistan effort should be spent at home, not overseas.

And even for those who do support Obama's plan, the amount of waste and fraud linked to aid to Afghanistan makes the massive expenditure there especially hard to swallow.

By some estimates, just $10 to $20 of every $100 spent on contracts to help rebuild Afghanistan can be accounted for in the final project. The rest of the money is skimmed off, either in outright fraud, waste or multiple layers of expenses related to multiple layers of contractors and subcontractors.

While there can be debate over Obama's plan to begin withdrawing troops within 18 months as well as the cost of the war and the prospects for success, there can be no debate over the need to stop the waste and corruption that diverts the bulk of the money intended to help win hearts and minds in Afghanistan.

A report published recently in the San Francisco Chronicle found that fraud, waste and abuse ate up as much as 75 cents of every dollar spent in Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. Arnold Fields, the special inspector focused on tracking spending in Afghanistan, says no precise figures are available, but his sources suggest no more than 25 percent or 30 percent of every dollar spent ends up in the project or initiative.

More than 50 percent of U.S. aid to Afghanistan goes to just five U.S. contractors, all politically well connected in Washington. And, once these contractors win a bid, they assign it to a subcontractor in Afghanistan which, in turn, shifts the work to local and regional contractors. At each level of this process, money is skimmed for profit, wages and expenses — and sometimes payoffs and graft.

According to the Chronicle's report, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) permits major contractors to include expenses such as $500,000 salaries for top employees and $200,000-a- year salaries for lower-level employees. And hazard-pay bonuses add to the cost of any project in Afghanistan.

After those salaries are pulled from U.S. aid funds, more money is spent on security, drivers, translators, cooks and other support staff.

By the time a dollar of U.S. aid reaches the bricks-and-mortar of the final project, as little as 20 cents remains.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledges the problem and has noted that corruption has gotten so bad that skimming money off U.S. aid contracts is becoming more lucrative than the opium trade, for years the primary source of income in Afghanistan. Gates, a former CIA director, also is well aware of the problems posed by Karzai's brother being widely seen as a major player in the illegal-drug trade and a beneficiary of government graft and corruption.

There are many challenges facing Obama, Gates and other officials in Afghanistan. Regardless of their views on the war, taxpayers should demand that the corruption, waste and sticky fingers that drain away the bulk of the U.S. aid money be stopped.

Millions of Americans have a problem with the U.S. escalation in Afghanistan. Every American should have a problem with the shameful amount of waste and fraud that diminished every U.S. aid dollar spent to help stabilize Afghanistan and defeat terrorism.