Cut Defense and Prosecute the Corrupt

 "“U.S. and foreign contractors poured money into a limited number of Afghan powerbrokers who set up companies that were corrupt and did not perform. . . . In many cases, they also paid off insurgents to let them operate,” Cordesman wrote.

He suggested that the government “tightly control the influx of outside money, limit its flow to honest and capable Afghans at every level of government, and provide the transparency to allow Afghans to see how honestly and effectively the money is used.”"   Pincus

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/afghan-corruption-and-how-the-us-facilitates-it/2012/11/05/d7fbce5c-2520-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html

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For years, I have told everyone in this wretched city (Washington) including Pincus that senior Americans (not sergeants) and their retired government buddies have been participating for years in the awarding of huge contracts to Afghans in or close to the government.  This is not news.  pl

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"... supplemental budgets were sought for the two wars, putting the costs, now near $1.5 trillion, on a credit card. Meanwhile, Defense’s core budget has risen about 4 percent a year, adjusted for inflation, except for the past two years. As Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) points out, President Obama’s plan to reduce 100,000 Army troops and Marines over the next five years will still leave ground forces larger than those existing at the time of the 9/11 attacks. Then there are the funds wasted on failed efforts to modernize weapons systems. According to a 2011 CSBA study, “Over the past decade, at least a dozen major programs were terminated without any operational systems being fielded. The sunk cost of the terminated programs . . . for example, totals some $46 billion.” The Pentagon also is paying hundreds of millions to upgrade some systems, such as the F-22 stealth fighter plane. "  Pincus

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/time-to-terminate-the-warfare-state/2012/11/07/67955d68-2502-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html

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We can't afford this Defense Department.  Change the foreign policy, kill the acquisition contracts, pension people off after shrinking the ground forces and come home.  pl    

 

Comments

[Lars]

After reading this: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/general-failure/309148/

I think the problem is both deeper and wider, not to mention seriously expensive. Pres. Eisenhower was right in his farewell speech but not enough people paid attention.

[The Twisted Genius]

Amen to all that! Stop outsourcing military functions to contractors that can be accomplished by soldiers, sailors and marines. Then pension off the excess personnel except for the generals and admirals. Pension off at least half of them immediately and then cull the herd some more as needed.

[Allen Thomson]

> senior Americans (not sergeants) and their retired government buddies have been participating for years in the awarding of huge contracts to Afghans in or close to the government.

Well, to be fair, if you substitute "congressmen" for "senior Americans", that's the way we do it here, so why not Afghanistan?

Where's General Eisenhower when we need him?

[Mike Martin, Yorktown, VA]

The thought finally gelled in my aging mind that there are three components to our Dept of Defense: (1) Programs, (2) Promotions, and (3) PowerPoints. All of which tend to be quite expensive.

[Charles]

Col Lang,

I am old and retired now but I used to provide technical oversight and support to the DOD OIG audits and investigations. Your insights and suggestions are dead on. Contractors (I became one before retiring fully) are about profits. That is okay in private commerce but does not mix well with governance. Inherently governmental functions should be performed by duly sworn civil servants or the military.

I fear that we have gone so far down that road that we may not be able to turn back.

Regards,

[Fred]

Hallelujah! How soon can we make this happen? Maybe Obama should call Boehner's bluff and run the DOD off that fiscal cliff the pontificators and consultants are whining about.

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Early drafts of that speech used the term "Military-Industrial-Congressional complex," but the president's political advisers convinced him to strike "Congressional" as too inflammatory.

[Cal]

I'm still looking for the 9 billon that went missing in Iraq.

[marcus]

Just wanted to share a comment about human nature and the financial state we are in:

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” — André Gide

Pat, you get better with age. Just a comment about all of your recent posts and the continuing "ring of truth" in your writing.

[Al Spafford]

These Generals and ex-generals are going, going, gone!
http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/NEWS07/121109051/david-petraeus-resigns-from-cia-over-affair?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE