ASG Weekly Reader – Military Contracting and the Afghanistan War: “it’s okay to pay the enemy because then we have better snacks”
Amid the repercussions of high profile assassinations in Afghanistan, the U.S. continues to dump billions of dollars into Afghanistan without oversight. Hamid Karzai continues to block anti-money laundering efforts, while a new study will be released by Congress in the next few weeks, which details Afghanistan and Iraq military contracting waste to the tune of $34 billion. Meanwhile, over the weekend, Karen DeYoung reported that Congress found “documented, credible evidence . . . of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy” by U.S. contracted trucking firms in Afghanistan. In other words the U.S. is funding both sides of the Afghanistan War. Exacerbating the situation even further are, Jennifer Rubin, and others, who erroneously attribute this week’s tragedy in Norway to al-Qaeda in order to justify higher defense spending and unlimited war. Read her opinion piece from the Washington Post here and let us know if you don’t see the correlation between fear mongering and out of control war spending.
FROM ASG
7-20-11
Change course in Afghanistan
Worcester Telegram & Gazette by Rep. Jim McGovern and Matthew Hoh
A few weeks ago, President Obama outlined his strategy for Afghanistan, which included a drawdown of 10,000 troops by the end of this year and an additional 23,000 by the end of next year. This is insufficient, and we fear that it means more of the same for the next 18 months. It would mean the same strategy with the same costs and, sad to say, even more casualties. It would mean more American soldiers losing their lives in support of an Afghan government that is terribly corrupt and incompetent.
ARTICLES
7-20-11
Afghanistan Is Hampering US Efforts To Help Improve AML In The Country
Wall Street Journal by Samuel Rubenfeld
Limited and inconsistent cooperation from Afghanistan is hurting U.S. efforts to safeguard the flow of cash to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, an audit released Wednesday found. The Office of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in its audit (pdf) that Afghanistan’s inconsistent cooperation has led to the pursuit of only four of 21 cases forwarded for prosecution by its financial intelligence agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Afghanistan, or FinTRACA.
Drug trade menaces Afghanistan despite progress: U.S.
Reuters by Paul Eckert
The United States has made headway in building up Afghanistan’s counternarcotics forces, but the war-torn country needs more international help to hold onto those fragile gains, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
7-20-11
Audit: Karzai blocks U.S. anti-money laundering effort
by Jennifer Epstein
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has blocked efforts by U.S. officials to safeguard money entering his country’s economy, and making it difficult for the United States to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, a new report finds.
7-21-11
Pakistan, Afghanistan must end border incursions
Reuters India by Myra McDonald
Pakistan and Afghanistan must redouble efforts to end fighting along their border to prevent this jeopardising an improvement in relations, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday. In an interview with Reuters, Gilani said he hoped India could “play a good role” in Afghanistan, as warming ties between Islamabad and New Delhi reduce the deep mistrust which has seen the two countries battling for influence there.
No Longer ‘Wine And Roses’ For Defense Spending
NPR by JJ Southerland
One of the big-ticket items in any budget deal will have to be the defense budget. The latest budget request calls for spending about $700 billion on defense next year, the highest level since World War II. President Obama has already proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in defense cuts, and proposals by the Senate’s “Gang of Six” call for hundreds of billions more over the next decade.
7-22-11
The Taliban’s Likely Negotiator With The U.S.
by Quil Lawrence
After months of rumors, most observers in Kabul now believe that American officials have met with a Taliban envoy face to face. The most likely interlocutor is Tayyeb Agha, the head of the Taliban political committee and one of a handful of people in the world said to have direct contact with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.
7-23-11
U.S. wastes $34 billion in Afghan and Iraq contracting
Reuters by Phil Stewart
The United States has wasted some $34 billion on service contracts with the private sector in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a study being finalized for Congress.
The findings by a bipartisan congressional commission were confirmed to Reuters by a person familiar with the draft of the study, which is due to be completed in coming weeks.
7-24-11
U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes
The Washington Post by Karen DeYoung
A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses.
OPINION
7-20-11
Making Sense of the Afghan Peace Dividend
Council on Foreign Relations
The debate raging on Capitol Hill over how to avoid fiscal calamity has collided with the discussion about the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan. Around Washington, policymakers argue (Nation) that scaling back America’s commitments abroad will allow the country to focus on pressing priorities at home. President Barack Obama also linked the two.
7-21-11
Biden’s Burden: Last One Standing in Afghanistan Policy Wars
The Atlantic by Steve Clemons
Now that General David Petraeus has mothballed his uniforms, turned the ISAF command in Afghanistan over to General John Allen, and taken Leon Panetta’s chair at the CIA, the next to last big name who fought for primacy in DC’s Afghanistan policy wars is, for the most part, off to other pastures.
7-23-11
The Washington Post Owes the World an Apology for This Item on the Oslo Attacks
The Progressive Realist by James Fallows
Read it and weep. On the Post’s site Jennifer Rubin first quotes the Weekly Standard, in a rushed item about the Norway horror …
