The US military spends hundreds of billions of dollars on “new” technology for the American war machine, and while few bat an eye when a big expensive program doesn’t yield results, these are speculative technologies after all, they don’t seem to have any better luck with improving old technology.
Take the radio. A well understood piece of technology and when the US launched its “Joint Tactical Radio System,” they just assumed it’d work fine, planning to replace the old radios with the newer, better ones.
But the quest for the perfect radio did not go according to plans, and $6 billion into their funding military officials concede that the program has produced virtually no useable inventions, forcing the Army to spend $11 billion in additional outlays buying more old radios for their assorted occupations. The program continues.
Not that America’s is the only military losing massive amounts of money in its programs. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, spent millions on an “anti-terrorist barrier” in Halifax Harbor, an effort to keep terrorist speedboats out of the key naval site. The installation of the barrier began in 2007, and officials say it has now sunk below the waves because too many mussels have attached themselves to it.
Which is probably a cheaper mistake than the shipment of military supplies from Afghanistan. With Canadian troops in the process of ending their direct role in the decade-long occupation, they began shipping crate after crate of equipment home. Today, those containers were opened, and found to be full of sand and rocks.
Ah, here we go again. I mean the lottery that is Anti-War. Will my comment be published or moderated?
I've almost reached the point of not caring!
Anti-War, is it really?
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
Careful what words you use David…….J words cam be a problem, especially HeBrews …..(beer?). Some links too (A.Jones/pp .com ect.) may send your post to the moderation dock ………..halfway to somewhere, or nowhere……. Anywhere….????
As I expected, it has to be moderated. Sorry. I don't want to participate in this forum anymore. I think it doesn't like the U.S. to be shown as the world's greatest warmonger!
I envie the guy who got to open the first box to find that sand from Afghanistan.
I wish I had been there to get a good laugh.
Bet this was Taliban's gift to the Canadian. They can use the Afghani sand to grow some opium.
That is not new as military establishment is powerful and no control on it.
I would prefer that it ALL "disappear Into a black hole".
Better that than it being used effectively by the mass-murdering psychopaths/sadists of the USM.
That's where the money is going to Dick Cheney's Halliburton company, service men and women dying and being wounded for nothing (no one changes a culture/a way of life) and the average american working like slaves to make ends meet. Is that did the American dream? not a dream but a nightmare… Wall Street, the military, Corporate America are to blame for this worldwide economic mess and their nonesense will and insensitivity to others suffering – their only interest is power, whether it be creating war mass murdering weapons or turning civil society into a bunch of slaves from whom they use without decency their tax money for non sense projects while a great number of Americans do not have access to basic healthcare, and are struggling all their lives.
Dont worry people, be cool and chill they got the money back when Goldman Sachems and others “lost" the Libyan and Iraqis money. 17+53 billion=70 billion
Trouble is. 70 trillion is closer to what is needed……….
Ah, that's not even the real black hole. At least that black hole is 'on the books' for people to see. The military also has billions is slush funds kicking around unseen. And access to stuff like those big pallets full of money that were shipped to Iraq only to quickly disappear off the books. That's the real black hole.
I wonder if the soldiers were just screwing with the military by packing crates full of sand and rocks. Or, if they had gear that was now stolen or missing so they were expected to send so many boxes back and these made up the difference. Or, if there was really gear in there, but some wiseguy along the way cracked open the boxes and replaced. Either way, your tax dollars at work. I know these happen to be Canadian bucks, but you know the same thing happens in the US military on an even larger scale. Watch MASH sometimes, and realize that the one thing the troops are usually pros at is stealing from their own supply system or from other units.
As it becomes more and more difficult to speak openly here at antiwar.com and in America, we need a new, more oblique syntax………….
I suggest the military invest a few billion to perfect the circular firing squad.
That may work out for Canada. After the economy collapses, we will be fighting with rocks! Life is a sad satire these days.