As the withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan nears (apparent) completion, images of Bagram Airfield littered with deserted fleets of American-made vehicles — ripe for the taking of whoever ends up with control of that base — have come to exemplify the enormous waste our 20-year intervention is leaving behind. After all, it was US taxpayers, in one way or another, who subsidized the purchase and transport of those vehicles into a remote territory on the other side of the world. So in turn, taxpayers are also underwriting the acquisition of a nice new truck for whichever locals are lucky enough to get first dibs.
The Taliban has now established a new government in Afghanistan one month after this was written. The US commitment to incompetence is absolutely remarkable. The lack of curiosity from our media is equally impressive. I would be completely obvious to this if it weren't for this reporting.
I've heard there were dozens of DoD IG reports complaining of the massive amounts of fraud and corruption going on with money and goods sent to Afghanistan to provide for their "self-defense". The Taliban literally took over a four story palace belonging to one of the men charged with preparing that native defense force. Pretty clear what he was spending the money on... himself. Probably did the bare minimum in regards to appearance sake for his actual job. But, of course, as is standard in the US government now... No one is a fault. No one is held accountable except the lowest level people (Like the Navy petty officer who went to prison for protecting a boy being raped as a sex slave by one of our Afghan "allies".).
We live in a society run almost fully from the top levels by evil, incompetent lizard people.
Jimmy Dore covered it recently that the Biden pulling out of Afghanistan is a facade and what he’s really doing is switching it over from military to private contractors. So they are taking out some 1800-2500 troops and switching to 18000 (yes thousand) private contractors. Private contractors are even less accountable plus more expensive.
The whole PAX americana thing has run its course and must end. The American homeland is a basket case - spend money on yourselves. The solution to 9/11 was to spend several trillion dollars killing a bunch of cavemen - so that contractors can profit. America has been hijacked.
<Shivers> Benelli would be nice. They are bound to have some HK USP 45's laying around. And at least a couple of Barrett M82A1 .50 BMG's. If they have an F-15 and a tactical nuke, I could be persuaded to take those as well. And magazines please. Lots and lots of magazines. Is it too late to change my order?
It’s no wonder that Russia can develop and deploy better weaponry than the US at less than 10% the budget. I imagine China is in the same ballpark. The MIC will be the downfall of this country one way or another. Whether it’s simply bankrupting the country, or half our weapon systems failing in a real shooting war.
"In 1942 McCone and Stephen D. Bechtel obtained a contract to build aircraft at Willow Run in Alabama. The War Department agreed to pay all the company’s costs plus 5 percent on work estimates presented by Bechtel-McCone every six months. A 300-acre factory was built and 8,000 employees hired to staff it. However, no aircraft were built. Employees were paid for doing nothing. A local man, George P. Alexander, discovered details of this scam and collected affidavits from workers who admitted that they “went in every day at 9.00, punched the time clock, then went home”. They then returned to the factory at 5.00 to “punch out”.
Alexander filed suit against Bechtel-McCone in federal district court on 31st July, 1943. He claimed that the company had made “many and various claims against the government of the United States, or a department or officer thereof, knowing such claims to be false, fictitious or fraudulent.” However, the judge dismissed the case. The problem was with the contract, not the claims by Bechtel-McCone. As John McCone admitted to Fortune Magazine on 17th May, 1943: “Every six months, we estimate how much work we expect to do in the next six months and then we get a fee of five percent of the estimated amount of work regardless of how much work we actually do turn out.”
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed "Old Gimlet Eye",[1] was a senior United States Marine Corps officer who fought in both the Mexican Revolution and World War I. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, and Central America; the Caribbean during the Banana Wars; and France in World War I. Butler was, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. By the end of his career, Butler had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (along with Wendell Neville and David Porter) and the Medal of Honor, and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.
In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations, but a final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's testimony.
Butler later became an outspoken critic of American wars and their consequences. In 1935, Butler wrote a book titled War Is a Racket, where he describes and criticizes the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those in which he had been involved, including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them.
There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. - smedley butler
War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. - smedley butler
War is just a racket... I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. - smedley butler
Yes, everything about wars of choice are bad. Always. Citizens, stop buying into phony pro-war talking points, manufactured for the moment, then forgotten. They're always bad!
OK the Afghan military will fall apart and the Taliban will be in charge again - square one.
If they launch a terrorist attack overseas I sincerely hope it’s not against America. If they hit another country (hopefully not) the American people should rebel and insist it’s not America’s problem and insist America not intervene.
Why must America be the one? Time for other countries to give it a shot: Canada can run the next one.
The Taliban has now established a new government in Afghanistan one month after this was written. The US commitment to incompetence is absolutely remarkable. The lack of curiosity from our media is equally impressive. I would be completely obvious to this if it weren't for this reporting.
I've heard there were dozens of DoD IG reports complaining of the massive amounts of fraud and corruption going on with money and goods sent to Afghanistan to provide for their "self-defense". The Taliban literally took over a four story palace belonging to one of the men charged with preparing that native defense force. Pretty clear what he was spending the money on... himself. Probably did the bare minimum in regards to appearance sake for his actual job. But, of course, as is standard in the US government now... No one is a fault. No one is held accountable except the lowest level people (Like the Navy petty officer who went to prison for protecting a boy being raped as a sex slave by one of our Afghan "allies".).
We live in a society run almost fully from the top levels by evil, incompetent lizard people.
Jimmy Dore covered it recently that the Biden pulling out of Afghanistan is a facade and what he’s really doing is switching it over from military to private contractors. So they are taking out some 1800-2500 troops and switching to 18000 (yes thousand) private contractors. Private contractors are even less accountable plus more expensive.
The whole PAX americana thing has run its course and must end. The American homeland is a basket case - spend money on yourselves. The solution to 9/11 was to spend several trillion dollars killing a bunch of cavemen - so that contractors can profit. America has been hijacked.
If they are just giving the stuff away, I wouldn't mind getting a crate of M4 Carbines, 200 thousand rounds of 5.56 NATO and a couple Humvees.
200 K rounds, dude go big or go home!
Good point. Make it 2 million rounds and I'll send them a hand written thank you note.
> 2 million rounds
Is that all you want for the $750+ billion?
And who are you going to bring this to bare on? You in a couple friends could probably defeat Iceland.
Most of it will go into the zombie apocalypse vault. The rest will serve duty in a recreational capacity. I just need a zombie apocalypse vault now.
Perfect.
I'll take a crate of Benelli M4's and another crate of M18's +1250 ammo cans of slug, 00 buck and 9mm.
<Shivers> Benelli would be nice. They are bound to have some HK USP 45's laying around. And at least a couple of Barrett M82A1 .50 BMG's. If they have an F-15 and a tactical nuke, I could be persuaded to take those as well. And magazines please. Lots and lots of magazines. Is it too late to change my order?
> 200 thousand rounds
Is that all you want for the $750+ billion? Get out of here with those rookie numbers!
It’s no wonder that Russia can develop and deploy better weaponry than the US at less than 10% the budget. I imagine China is in the same ballpark. The MIC will be the downfall of this country one way or another. Whether it’s simply bankrupting the country, or half our weapon systems failing in a real shooting war.
Is there a equipment actually better? No.
War is a racket. Bechtel still one of the Pentagon's pet has a whole list going back to WWI this is just a favorite of mine. https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKmccone.htm
"In 1942 McCone and Stephen D. Bechtel obtained a contract to build aircraft at Willow Run in Alabama. The War Department agreed to pay all the company’s costs plus 5 percent on work estimates presented by Bechtel-McCone every six months. A 300-acre factory was built and 8,000 employees hired to staff it. However, no aircraft were built. Employees were paid for doing nothing. A local man, George P. Alexander, discovered details of this scam and collected affidavits from workers who admitted that they “went in every day at 9.00, punched the time clock, then went home”. They then returned to the factory at 5.00 to “punch out”.
Alexander filed suit against Bechtel-McCone in federal district court on 31st July, 1943. He claimed that the company had made “many and various claims against the government of the United States, or a department or officer thereof, knowing such claims to be false, fictitious or fraudulent.” However, the judge dismissed the case. The problem was with the contract, not the claims by Bechtel-McCone. As John McCone admitted to Fortune Magazine on 17th May, 1943: “Every six months, we estimate how much work we expect to do in the next six months and then we get a fee of five percent of the estimated amount of work regardless of how much work we actually do turn out.”
> War is a racket.
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed "Old Gimlet Eye",[1] was a senior United States Marine Corps officer who fought in both the Mexican Revolution and World War I. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, and Central America; the Caribbean during the Banana Wars; and France in World War I. Butler was, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. By the end of his career, Butler had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (along with Wendell Neville and David Porter) and the Medal of Honor, and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.
In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations, but a final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's testimony.
Butler later became an outspoken critic of American wars and their consequences. In 1935, Butler wrote a book titled War Is a Racket, where he describes and criticizes the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those in which he had been involved, including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them.
There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. - smedley butler
War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. - smedley butler
War is just a racket... I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. - smedley butler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
Audio book:
https://youtu.be/26O-2SVcrw0
This is how all government contracting works. Don’t believe me, just pick any agency and follow the money.
Money funneling operation? I thought they hated us for our Freedumbs? That's what my TV told me in 2002-2003? You mean they were lying?
I get queasy when I read this stuff. Why on earth do you have to dig up these things before I have my breakfast?
Consider this Substack a weight-loss service
Thanks! As a cyclist, weight loss is a constant subject.
Yes, everything about wars of choice are bad. Always. Citizens, stop buying into phony pro-war talking points, manufactured for the moment, then forgotten. They're always bad!
Who knows, maybe waste will be our downfall.
I don't know, man. I'm not sure I trust this guy. You need some independent validation.
Do you know another journalist outfit without a partisan profit motive, someone who can take a step back and be trusted to look at things objectively?
How about Cenk? Can you bring him in on this, for a follow-up interview with this guy? Cenk has a proven record of fair inquiries.
Ahahahahahahahahaha.
/s
OK the Afghan military will fall apart and the Taliban will be in charge again - square one.
If they launch a terrorist attack overseas I sincerely hope it’s not against America. If they hit another country (hopefully not) the American people should rebel and insist it’s not America’s problem and insist America not intervene.
Why must America be the one? Time for other countries to give it a shot: Canada can run the next one.
Congratulations!