IS U.S. PAYING FOR BOGUS AFGHAN COPS?

IS U.S. PAYING FOR BOGUS AFGHAN COPS?

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

Anybody who reads much of my stuff knows that I put a whole bunch of faith in statistical information…..it’s like the guy said “Follow that money trail, and there you’ll find the answers”. Now there’s this investigation and audit that’s been conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction…..or SIGAR. I am so sick and tired of the military needing catchy, cute names for everything that they do, believe me, these catch phrases do not give the military credence to what they’re doing.

 

To a degree, my opinion of law enforcement here in the United States could be called a “bogus enforcement agency”…..at times anyways. That is our problem, it doesn’t involve anybody else, and it’s for damn sure that the United States isn’t receiving any foreign aid for the country’s policing problems.

 

But when I read about billions of good old green backs being wasted on law enforcement outfits in Afghanistan, I tend to get a pretty quick case of the red-ass. And the amount is $3.6 billion dollars, which seems to be paid in part to Afghanistan cops that don’t even exist, what in hell is up with that.

 

The United States, since the end of the Jimmy Carter presidency, has been pretty quick on the draw when it comes to international trouble and the U.S. foreign policies. It’s the “Don’t tread me attitude” that many in government have taken. Well gee wise, since 2000 (that would be before September 11, 2001), the United States has taken up arms, or more precisely bombs, 39 different times or more than 2.66 times each year.

 

So I suppose when somebody gets their uniform medals tarnished over the hint of improprieties with regards to United States taxpayer funds…..it should just be considered as part of the problem with the role that the U.S. has in the world in the early part of the 21^st century. Or as Dick Cheney says, “There’s people that want to kill us out there.”

 

However for me, I personally take exception to the laissez-faire attitude that Washington and the Pentagon has when doling out our money for reconstruction, or policing actions, or training foreign countries how to play cops and robbers.

 

Now you got to remember that it actually isn’t the United States military that is doing the training of Afghanistan’s key-stone cops, no-sir-ee, that would simply make the situation much clearer, that way accountants, and those people who are supposed to keep track of progress could be easily identified and held accountable.

 

People like former Oklahoma City policeman, Sonny Hurtado (a current General in the U.S. military), is in charge of training the Afghan police department for NATO. In addition there is training help and aid that is being contracted out to the likes of Xe (formerly Blackwater) and DynCorp.

 

A whole host of people in and out of the U.S. government believe that the task of training should not be assigned to private contractors, and say that the training of Afghanistan law enforcement is doomed from the outset because the focus will be on defeating the Taliban rather than fostering community-oriented policing.

 

HERE’S THE KICKER

It is estimated that the United States is spending $300 million dollars a year on salaries for Afghan cops who don’t even exist…..which I already mentioned…..but I figure it bears repeating. Could it be lax oversight and poor record-keeping…..and people speaking the universal language, money, that is exacerbating an already poor system worse…..of course.

 

The United States spent about $93 billion in military and economic assistance for Afghanistan from the Taliban’s ouster in late 2001 through September 2013, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), said last year. The U.S. and other donor nations fund about 60% of Afghanistan’s national budget, the special inspector general said.

 

It is imperative that there be a viable, effective police force, along with an army as key elements which would allow the United States to withdraw its military, and letting the Afghanistan government and people to take responsibility for its own security.

 

Since 2002 the United States has spent $15 billion dollars alone to train, equip and sustain the Afghan police, according to the just completed audit report. There’s no time-clock, no sign-in regiment (except for some officers) and no oversight to tell when Afghan law enforcement personnel actually work. Me…..I’d love to have that kind of a job, however, it wouldn’t be in Afghanistan.

 

“This command (police training) is committed to achieving dramatic results in Afghan National Police (ANP) salary payments process,” this in a December 1 memo which was included in the audit report.  “There is no doubt that there is still more to accomplish, but the past 90 days we have applied significant rigor to the letters of commitment to enforce fiscal discipline and improve oversight,” this again from the audit committee.

 

So let me get this straight…..it’s been since 2002 that the United States, NATO and the other allies have been attempting to create a solid police force that will enforce Afghanistan’s laws, and enforce and capture law breakers. That would be 12 years of effort…..I guess I’d have to question the veracity of the effort, I mean it only takes a women 9 months (or there abouts) to deliver a baby, how long is it going to take Afghanistan to stand on its own two feet?

 

The United States spent billions in Iraq in an effort to create a law enforcement presence in that country, and as I recall, the effort didn’t work out too well. I seem to recall reading an article that said President Obama was talking about sending military troops and advisors back into the country because of the lawlessness.

 

Here’s a kind of different idea, why not give these idiots 90 days to get their stuff straight because we’re going to move on out. That’s right, until there’s no more hunger here in the U.S. that there’s no more homelessness here in the United States, and U.S. citizens aren’t wanting for medical care, we’re pulling up stakes and concentrating on our own. Now…..to me, that’s a hell of an idea…..let’s just do it!

HAVE A NICE DAY!