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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 16, 2010 - 01:04pm PT
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Hey ec, where the heck can I see that film???
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 16, 2010 - 01:06pm PT
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On the other hand:
The Afghan money pit
By Mike Honda
December 15, 2010
A Pentagon report due out this week will probably try to convince us that
the war in Afghanistan is on the right track. And yet a poll released this
month surveying Afghan public opinion says otherwise.
Although the poll results showed some bright spots, after spending
hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, security and day-to-day life in
many regions of Afghanistan aren't improving. When asked if crime and
violence, economic opportunity and freedom of movement are getting better,
worse or staying the same, most Afghans stated that things were worse on
all three fronts. Availability of electricity, food, medical care and
schools has shown little or no improvement in recent years, they said.
Afghans are witnessing more violence, not less; their support for the war,
according to the survey, is diminishing. Nearly six out of 10 Afghans said
Western troops should leave on or before the original July 2011 withdrawal
date; only 17% say the deployment should be maintained longer.
What the Afghans see, or don't see, on the ground is a strong sign of a
particular American failure there: too little oversight and accountability
for billions of taxpayer dollars pouring into that nation.
This is no secret. Billion-dollar projects granted in Washington end up in
Afghanistan with a mere fraction of funds left. Skimming and bribery are
pervasive. My colleague, Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.), as chairman of
the House oversight subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs,
reported the prevalence of extortion and corruption along the U.S. supply
chain in Afghanistan. My staff's fact-finding trip to Afghanistan found
government and nongovernment officials — from the Afghan minister of rural
rehabilitation and development to World Bank officials to heads of local
Afghan organization — with similar tales about pervasive waste and fraud
in foreign efforts. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Louis Berger Group Inc.
continues to manage multiple billion-dollar contracts in Afghanistan,
despite paying a criminal penalty and civil claims after admitting to
systematically overbilling American taxpayers.
Congress created the post of special inspector general for Afghanistan
reconstruction to provide independent and objective oversight of the war's
stabilization and reconstruction funds, but like so much about the war
effort, there isn't enough to show for it. The Afghanistan inspector
general's office has produced only four convictions to date, and its
investigations have failed to meet minimum standards, according to peer
reviews. This prompted a bipartisan team of U.S. senators to send a letter
asking the president to remove Arnold Fields, who heads the office.
Compare the Afghanistan effort with the inspector general's office in
Iraq. In this quarter alone, the Iraq inspectors found a Marine Corps
major illegally depositing more than $440,000 into U.S. bank accounts, a
U.S. military contractor involved in a $360,000 bribery scheme and a U.S.-
based construction company participating in an $800,000 kickback conspiracy.
In fairness, the Afghanistan-focused team cites its relatively recent 2008
arrival as the reason for its less-than-stellar performance so far. The
Iraq-focused team has been up and running since 2004.
Given the comparatively weak Afghanistan team, and the fact that the Iraq
inspector general's office is due to close in 2012 despite 50,000 troops
and 80,000 defense contractors still operating in Iraq, we need a better
form of oversight. Iraq and Afghanistan — and every other
U.S. "contingency operation" involving billions of taxpayer dollars —
should be under the watchful eye of a permanent, independent Office for
Contingency Operations, with its own special inspector general. Rather
than a piecemeal and reactive approach to the oversight of billions of
dollars in these situations, we need a dedicated shop run by a proven
investigator who can report to the National Security Council, and the
Defense and State departments, without being cowed by political pressure.
We cannot afford to continue overseas relief and reconstruction efforts in
an ad-hoc fashion, spending billions of taxpayer dollars under "emergency"
pretexts with too few conditions and too little coordination,
transparency, oversight and evaluation. It weakens our economic and national security.
Like the Afghans, Americans have told pollsters this month that they are
tiring of our longest and most expensive foreign war. They would like it
even less if they were getting a transparent and complete look at exactly
how their dollars are being spent — or misspent.
A permanent Office for Contingency Operations, whose mandate would
transcend political timetables, would send the message that transparency,
efficiency and efficacy are institutional priorities, and waste and
corruption will not be tolerated. Do this and not only do you begin to
turn the tide of American and Afghan public opinion, but you get a lot
closer to the stability we set out to secure in the first place.
Mike Honda is a Democrat representing California's 15th District in the
House of Representatives.
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 16, 2010 - 01:26pm PT
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Dude....yer so mean to me......
but thanks!
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Dec 19, 2010 - 11:19pm PT
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Bluering said: What resources did we invade Afghanistan for....fool?
No need for name calling. There were significant resources at stake. Yup, it was Oil and natural gas Bluering. The Taliban turned down a huge US oil companies consortium's pipeline project. You can do a quick and fast google search as this is all over the internet. http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/oil.html It was one of the first projects initiated once we took over. Do you remember Secretary of State George Schultz? He was on the board of directors of Chevron. Do you know who came on board with Chevron and headed their committee on public policy before later becoming the first female National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State for George W. Bush?
Hint, Chevron named a tanker after her:
Here's where the oil is coming from: http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/lofiversion/index.php?t3133.html From all the stans. Look at the map and do some research. The truth is Blueie, that our government lies through their teeth. I don't doubt that some of their actions benefit us all. Yet you are much more likely to get a straight, honest and truthful answer from the Taliban than our government or our formerly "free" press. I'm with Karl and Healy on this one. This is a stupid foreign policy that we could have conducted much more cost effectively. The fact is that big business will be the big beneficiary and you and I get to pay for it.
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Doug Buchanan
Mountain climber
Fairbanks Alaska
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Dec 20, 2010 - 08:44pm PT
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When it belatedly becomes obvious to the Americans with guns in their craniums that the US lost the war in Afghanistan (Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia) the day we attacked those nations for the massive wealth of the Military Industrial Complex executives, some statistics geeks will add up the total human hours of otherwise productive time the Americans squandered arguing over the issue, including on SuperTopo, plus a quantitative figure for the animosity the wars created among Americans, and upload the data to explain how the economic advance of China was facilitated by the resulting US productivity decline, and provide the material for the laughter of the Afghans for the next couple generations.
The Vietnamese are still laughing over how they defeated the great (ignorant) American military giant.
And before we US climbers are admitted to the Afghan mountains, their visa guys will review SuperTopo to see who was thinking and who was instead following the Bush/Obama line.
Those not on SuperTopo will rightfully be considered to have been climbing.
DougBuchanan.com Vietnam veteran.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Dec 20, 2010 - 09:17pm PT
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Couchmaster...corporate welfare is the proper term ...kinda like the tax cuts that the moron republicans wanted so badly...nanny state for the rich.. rj
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Weld_It, he's either dead, or in an ISI safehouse.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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This is just bad...25 Navy SEALs go down.
http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?D=2011-08-06&HC=1&ID=327578
Who the hell puts 25 Navy SEALS in one rig into a hot combat zone??? If I were running that theater of ops, the Afghans and Pakistanis would be very afraid tonight.
Fire up the drones, the AC-130's, and have the A-10's and Apache's on standby for anything still moving.
WTF? Why have 5 SEAL teams in an ancient Chinook together???
We can do better. And God bless their souls....
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Talk about having all your eggs in one basket...
I heard on the news that it was a NATO helicopter. It'll be interesting to know who was actually in charge.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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More to the point is where'd the Taliban get the missile?
China via the Paki ISI I'm thinking.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Could it have been one of the missiles the US gave to Afghani's
during the Soviet/Afghan war?
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Could it have been one of the missiles the US gave to Afghani's
during the Soviet/Afghan war?
No. Those had a built in expiration date.
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