Heard an interview this morning with a U.S. guy who was leading a group that got into a fire fight with some locals and lost three soldiers. Made me think (at least for me) I haven't thought or read a whole lot about Afghanistan recently nor has it gotten a whole lot of discussion on this board. How much longer do people here think we will be actively involved in fighting there?
Just as long as the MIC can continue making money there.
Speaking of Afghanistan ..
A brand-new U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it
The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters building on the dusty moonscape of southwestern Afghanistan that comes with all the tools to wage a modern war. A vast operations center with tiered seating. A briefing theater. Spacious offices. Fancy chairs. Powerful air conditioning.
Everything, that is, except troops.
The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year
at a cost of $34 million. But the military has no plans to ever use it. Commanders in the area, who insisted three years ago that they did not need the building, now are in the process of withdrawing forces and see no reason to move into the new facility.
For many senior officers, the unused headquarters has come to symbolize the staggering cost of Pentagon mismanagement: As American troops pack up to return home, U.S.-funded contractors are placing the finishing touches on projects that are no longer required or pulling the plug after investing millions of dollars.
In Kandahar province, the U.S. military recently completed a
$45 million facility to repair armored vehicles and other complex pieces of equipment. The space is now being used as a staging ground to sort through equipment that is being shipped out of the country.
In northern Afghanistan, the State Department last year abandoned plans to occupy a large building it had intended to use as a consulate. After spending more than
$80 million and signing a 10-year lease, officials determined the facility was too vulnerable to attacks.
But some senior officers see the giant headquarters as the whitest elephant in a war littered with wasteful, dysfunctional and unnecessary projects funded by American taxpayers. A hulking presence at the center of Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province, it has become the butt of jokes among Marines stationed there and an object lesson for senior officers in Kabul and Washington.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...cd-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html?hpid=z17
It just doesn't get any dumber than this.
We've got to be the stupidest people on the planet.
