The US government’s watchdog on Afghanistan spending released another report on Monday that found more waste in Washington’s almost 20-year-old war. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reviewed $7.8 billion that was spent since 2008 on buildings and vehicles.
Out of the $7.8 billion, only $343.2 million was spent on buildings and vehicles that were “maintained in good condition,” and only $1.2 billion of those assets were used as intended. The Pentagon was the top contributor for these wasted funds, providing $6.5 billion out of the $7.8 billion.
The SIGAR report comes as the deadline for the US to withdraw from Afghanistan is approaching. As per the US-Taliban peace deal signed last year, the US and all other foreign forces are required to leave the country by May 1st.
The huge amounts of taxpayer money the US has wasted in Afghanistan is a good argument for ending the war. But all signs indicate the US and NATO will stay in Afghanistan beyond the May 1st deadline, although an official announcement has yet to be made.
According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, as of September 2019, the US has spent $2 trillion on the war in Afghanistan. The number includes interest on borrowed money used to fund the war and money spent on care for veterans.
Trillions not Billions. What a waste of blood and treasure.
I honestly believe if Nixon hadn’t wanted to form an alliance with China against the Soviet Union we’d still be in Vietnam.
Hillary Clinton was excited. The audience was packed to overflow to hear an actual female President from Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. After years in exile in the UK the socialist spoke perfect English, and she was here to explain her support of The Taliban, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
The audience had no way of knowing 911 was coming as she moved to the microphone to a thunderous standing ovation after Hillary introduced her.
Her talk was to explain her support of terror groups.
The women sat enraptured, probably paying more attention to the fact she was a female socialist leader than what her words meant.
She explained that she believed in manageable violence. That violence to a point if controlled could be as important as warfare. Only there was a twist.
You no longer have to win a war to win. Victory was not necessary. Controlled violence, with no definition of victory, was a new form of low impact warfare.
And that my friends is when trouble began.
Bhutto like all socialists quickly learned socialism didn’t work and like all socialists before her who discovered that, from Cuba to China corruption took over on an unprecedented scale. Corruption on a massive scale. You had to pay to play in Pakistan, and the Taliban protected her from bribery charges in her “controlled violence” scenario.
As she began to flaunt her wealth with $200,000 necklaces, the Taliban decided she was too uppity for their liking, even with her protection and support. A child wearing a suicide vest with explosives and ball bearings ran to her car firing bullets at her and then setting off the vest killing 22 and eventually her.
Because once violence starts you can’t control it.
The myth that violence can be managed and you no longer need victory began being reflected in Hillary’s statements. She fought for us to go into Libya and was given the gift by Obama. No longer were we fighting wars to win them. What had begun in Vietnam- the idea of a no win war that goes on for years to get money from defense industry lobbyists now had a philosophy.
And if that isn’t evil, evil does not exist. Be seeing you.
The fat cats who profit from war don’t think the money was wasted.