DEFENSIVE SPENDING IS OFFENSIVE!

(USA TODAY, William Goodfellow, Steve Clemons Reuters)

(McClatchy Newspaper, Christian Science Monitor, Frazer Chronicle)

 

This could really be entitled Three Faces of an Opinion, because the USA TODAY has incorporated an opinion based on information provided by John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, Alan Estevez, assistant secretary of Defense, (Logistics and Material Readiness), and Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

 

The third opinionier would be your friendly editor and chief…..me, your old procrastinating blogger who sits on an issue until it causes a bed sore under his saddle blanket…..and he just has to weigh in with his personal thoughts and convections.

 

My wife, my personal editor and chief tells me that I write in too much of a narrow scope, and I retort with my pat answer, “I write about stuff, sometimes two, three and four times because I think it’s an important issue, and until it’s changed, it, (the issue) needs to be addressed.” Anyways it’s my blog, and I’ll do whatever the hell I want regarding the subject matter.

 

I devote approximately 55% of my blogging time on wars, and war related situations that are without a doubt are the direct result of the wars that the United States wages. Without exception the United States justifies its war making activity because of the good that will result in freeing people from oppression, dictatorships, hunger, and instilling a better way of life.

 

Nobody wants war…..right…..wrong, at least in the United States, it seems like it’s the more is better syndrome. I do know this…..first hand, war creates employment, war creates opportunity for the capitalistic corporations of our country and war has a galvanizing effect on our form of government, nobody wants to seem unpatriotic…..so everybody jumps on board the war wagon!

 

THE JOHN SOPKO FINDINGS AND OPINION

Who the hell is John Sopko, well I found that he was many things to many different people, but mostly he was known to piss of the Mafia in Cleveland, Ohio. Back in 1982 Sopko brought the Mafia and the Cosa Nostra to its collective knees, effectively ending the reign of terror and corruption in the city wrought by the criminal element.

 

You’d think that taking on an organization with the clout of the Mafia, surviving, and in fact ending the criminal reign would be enough for anyone. But apparently side-stepping bullets is part of what makes Sopko tick. Tick would actually be a key word, because John Sopko is now ticking off the Pentagon with another investigational effort.

 

Currently Sopko is U.S. Inspector General for the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, and it seems, like in Cleveland, Ohio, he has run into another corrupt situation, again from the top to the bottom of the authority ladder. In February of this year, the Kabul Press criticized Sopko saying that the corruption that he uncovered was trivial and simplistic compared with the ways of the Washington beltway.

 

And now, Sopko in a speech in May mentioned the fact that Afghanistan will have to stand on its own once U.S. troops leave next year, but that problems with theft, bribery, corruption could derail an otherwise valiant effort. Coupled with the theft, bribery and the corruption elements that are already prevalent, the U.S. Defense Department, and the Agency for International Development is spending billions hoping things will turn out well!

Some of Sopko’s findings:

a. Defense department spent $34 million dollars on a headquarters building that hasn’t been used, and a Marine commander said he “didn’t want or need the building”.

b. Pentagon is spending more than $700 million dollars on Swiss and Russian planes, even though there aren’t enough Afghani pilots to fly them, or mechanics to maintain them.

c. Built four incinerators at a cost of $11.5 million for solid waste…..but only two are in use, and some of the waste is being burnt in an open above ground pit.

d. An Afghan contractor was hired for the construction of a courthouse which was put together so poorly that it was deemed uninhabitable, and needed to be torn down…..and the original contractor put in a bit to tear his work down.

e. Pentagon hired Afghani contractor to install culvert grates to deter the Taliban from inserting explosives under the roadway traveled by U.S. soldiers. The grating system in many cases was either put in improperly, or not at all, leading to at least 2 U.S. soldiers deaths.

 

The complaint list is sizable and growing, yet the Pentagon continues in what seems their wasteful ways, and although they agree with some of Sopko’s findings, they (of course) disagree with others. Congress has a role in the maze and mess that seems to have dogged Iraq and now, Afghanistan.

 

Of course there is a harsh environment and often unreliable allies in Afghanistan, but to dump gobs of money, taxpayer’s money, into such an environment by our own government seems strange at best. No matter the condition the seeming serial breakdowns in basic planning, oversight and accountability are unacceptable. And who signed off on the above mentioned projects…..the Defense Department can’t say, they are…..Defensive about the probing questions!

 

CAN I GET A SECOND OPIONION

After eleven years of military operations and sacrifices, our national security interest in a stable Afghanistan that is never again a base for terrorists remains as great as ever. The American people can feel confident that we will fulfill this mission; your Department of Defense will continue to be good stewards of the resources provided by Congress and taxpayer’s.

 

The efforts are paying off: Afghan forces are now conducting nearly all combat operations and have security lead in nearly all parts of Afghanistan. While spending U.S. taxpayer money on Afghan forces is a difficult sell in our current fiscal environment, in the long term, it is a sound investment in our national security. These expenditures with robust oversight are critically important to ensuring stability after the international forces depart the country.

 

Auditors, both internal and external, to the Defense Department play a key role in oversight and closely with the Pentagon to ensure programs and activities are properly implemented. These organizations, (internally and externally) conduct dozens of audits and investigations every year including: how we measure the effectiveness of Afghan forces: whether major contracts are delivering intended results: and whether contracts are awarded in accordance with the law.

 

Make no mistake, we spend a significant amount of time both conducting oversight and being the subject of oversight. Where problems are identified, we take corrective actions that may include updating policies and regulations. There has been a significant enhanced contract management and oversight In Afghanistan. And we never forget that we ultimately answer to the American taxpayer.

 

 

A FINAL ALL INCLUSIVE OPINION

I seldom refer to verbatim verbiage regarding opinions, or stating facts or figures, I have found that cutting through all the bull-crap, and getting to the bottom line of what people mean is more effective…..at least for me. But Estevez and Lavoy’s opposing view to what John Sopko had to say was…..well comical, and they both, (Estevez, and Lavoy) get paid for their jobs, and hence, their opinions…..I’d sure like a piece of that action.

 

Look everybody with a pinch of intellect understands that the Pentagon…..actually our DEFENSE DEPARTMENT spends our money in varying degrees. Without doubt, the Pentagon spends more money on more unnecessary things than any other governmental department that we as taxpayers support. No wonder they come calling every year with their hats in their hands, heads bowed and looking like the poor little whipped neighborhood kid.

 

Wasteful…..the Pentagon invented the word, devised its use, and refined how the word can be gamed. In January of 2013 it was reported that $6.8 million on nonexistent equipment, or 30,000 vehicles had been paid for by the U.S. or us, whichever way you want to spell it. The Inspector General…..Sopko, sited the $6.8 million was for payment on the vehicles…..and maintenance, on……….air, cause they never existed.

 

Oversight…..oversight…..oversight, (oh where have you gone), oversight…..oversight…..oversight, where has a huge portion of the appropriations that were allocated by Congress, that the taxpayer paid for, and that the Pentagon spent, into the hands of unscrupulous hands of the greedy unrelenting bottom feeders of war.

 

You can see them on every street corner in the run-up to a military conflict, hat in hand, and a condescending smirk because they know it’s about time to go back to work and collect another fat paycheck courtesy of good old Uncle Sam. And our military defenders, and those on Capitol Hill who worry about being called unpatriotic if they deny a military request for bombs, bullets, tanks, planes, and ships.

 

It’s time for a re-think,  I think, what Estevez and Lavoy failed to include in their opinion of the Afghan war, the facts and opinion of Inspector General Sopko and the feelings of the American people was a statement like my old friend Condoleezza Rice said in the weeks and months before the invasion of Iraq,

“Do you want to see a mushroom cloud over New York, or Washington?”

 

 The poor lady was delusional, President George W. Bush was delusional, and clearly Vice President Dick Chaney was delusional. And now we’ve come down to it, people like Alan Estevez and Peter Lavoy are delusional. But there worse than Rice, Bush, or Cheney, Estevez and Lavoy are still trying to sell a message that has been rebuffed and debunked several years ago with iron clad evidence that the whole Iraq and Afghanistan situation are a big fat joke…..by now, pretty much a joke on the American public.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!