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Thread: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

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    $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    http://papabiz.net/news/air-conditio...s20-2-billion/

    I think we, as a country, need to just get the helk out of there. There is a reason why every attempt has failed when it comes to "conquering" it or "bringing it under control".

    All the money spent on our troops is one thing, and too much at that, but to spend all the money to train the Afghan troops and have them say that they can't support themselves when we leave? Training / sinking money into that wasteland it a futile effort, one that we simply can't afford to do.

    How in the world can the US budget be reigned in with this kind of spending?

    In the overall scheme of things, $20 billion may not seem like much (when compared to $14 trillion) but every little thing counts and throwing money away in a futile effort is just plain ridiculous.

    From that article, withdrawing troops is not enough b/c it's the infrastructure that is costing all the money. I think Afghanistan is much like the US when it comes to foreign armies occupying it: it's just not worth it.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    damn air force :P its time to shit or get off the pot. DC needs to stop trying to mirco manage the war


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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    We need to remember what happened the last time we abandoned Afghanistan- we left, the Taliban came in, which led to AQ which led to 9/11. Things are worse now. Pakistan is incredibly unstable, vulnerable to Taliban, and nuked up. Just walking away could lead to a nuclear version of 9/11.

    That's why we are there.
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    That's all well and good, but cuts need to be made in other areas then to support it financially. OR ways need to be thought of to increase revenue to the government WITHOUT tax increases.

    OR more efficient ways need to be thought of to keep the infrastructure going.

    There are politicians etc that make a whole lot of money and are afforded MONTHS of vacation per year being paid by the people of this country and they need to start doing their damn jobs. This seriously makes me sick. You have all these "fat cats" being able to take nice vacations at our expense and they are unable to come up with viable solutions?

    I tell ya, DC needs a good house cleaning.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    You'll get no argument from me. But I think it is important to stabilize the region by responsibly drawing down troops, gradually increasing Afghan responsibility, and maintaining a small but formidable long-term presence in Afghanistan.
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by suitanim View Post
    We need to remember what happened the last time we abandoned Afghanistan- we left, the Taliban came in, which led to AQ which led to 9/11. Things are worse now. Pakistan is incredibly unstable, vulnerable to Taliban, and nuked up. Just walking away could lead to a nuclear version of 9/11.

    That's why we are there.
    I agree. We should give Afghanistan nuclear weapons so it can better defend itself.
    All Defense!

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    It is wasteful spending like this that has gotten us in this large deficit and the kind of wasteful spending that needs to be cut

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    I wonder how many would die if a Taliban run AfPak in alliance with AQ detonate a couple nukes in NYC and DC? Few million, maybe more? How many trillions might that cost? To wipe out the US power structure and World economic nerve center?
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by suitanim View Post
    I wonder how many would die if a Taliban run AfPak in alliance with AQ detonate a couple nukes in NYC and DC? Few million, maybe more? How many trillions might that cost? To wipe out the US power structure and World economic nerve center?
    I also believe the best defense is a good offense but you have to reach a happy medium. For instance, if we're going to be there long term then build a base and check points along the way, sort of like "forts" were built when this country was growing through the lands of the American Indian.

    Also, someone needs to cut this whole "politically correct" BS out of the equation. Do what needs done, period, regardless of who is offended.

    There MUST be a more cost effective way of protecting this country from terrorists. There are people being paid by the taxpayers of this country to figure out so .... figure it out.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Here's a plan:

    Listen to your generals. Form a plan. Stick with it.

    That's pretty much the opposite of what Obama has done. First he said we need to concentrate on Afghanistan. Then he changed our mission there. Then he sent in a surge (at about half the level the generals suggested), which started working. Then he changed the mission again and ended the surge because it's politically a liability to keep a bunch of troops over there against the advice of his generals again). He's running the war by polls, which is the wrong way to do just about anything. ALL he cares about is reelection.

    Want proof? At about this same point in W's presidency, he had about 4 fundraisers for his reelection. Obama? 24! Reelection is all he cares about, and I mean at the expense of everything: The economy, jobs, housing, the military...all secondary to him getting reelected.
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by suitanim View Post
    We need to remember what happened the last time we abandoned Afghanistan- we left, the Taliban came in, which led to AQ which led to 9/11. Things are worse now. Pakistan is incredibly unstable, vulnerable to Taliban, and nuked up. Just walking away could lead to a nuclear version of 9/11.

    That's why we are there.

    I think that you are on the right track....the point of being in Afganistan is NOT solely about just throwing out the Taliban and propping up a legitimate government. It is more important to keep the area clear from being used to train terrorists and to keep those terrorists from forming terrorists cells.
    "I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play"

    -- Jack Lambert --

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by BnG_Hevn View Post
    ... For instance, if we're going to be there long term then build a base and check points along the way, sort of like "forts" were built when this country was growing through the lands of the American Indian.
    I like the idea....but if that was logisticaly possible....then we would be doing that on our border with Mexico.
    "I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play"

    -- Jack Lambert --

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by suitanim View Post
    Here's a plan:

    Listen to your generals. Form a plan. Stick with it.

    That's pretty much the opposite of what Obama has done. First he said we need to concentrate on Afghanistan. Then he changed our mission there. Then he sent in a surge (at about half the level the generals suggested), which started working. Then he changed the mission again and ended the surge because it's politically a liability to keep a bunch of troops over there against the advice of his generals again). He's running the war by polls, which is the wrong way to do just about anything. ALL he cares about is reelection.

    Want proof? At about this same point in W's presidency, he had about 4 fundraisers for his reelection. Obama? 24! Reelection is all he cares about, and I mean at the expense of everything: The economy, jobs, housing, the military...all secondary to him getting reelected.
    Obama doubled the amount of troops in Afghanistan, and you're still complaining. We should be out of there by now. Every dollar and day we spend trying to set up that cardboard democracy is a waste, because it's all going to fall apart once we pull out. Even Republicans recognize that now, which is why they're pushing for an indefinite occupation, which is also ridiculous given the economy. Terrorists don't need a country like Afghanistan to plot terrorism. They can just as easily do it in a US-funded country like Pakistan.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by The Patriot View Post
    Obama doubled the amount of troops in Afghanistan, and you're still complaining. We should be out of there by now. Every dollar and day we spend trying to set up that cardboard democracy is a waste, because it's all going to fall apart once we pull out. Even Republicans recognize that now, which is why they're pushing for an indefinite occupation, which is also ridiculous given the economy. Terrorists don't need a country like Afghanistan to plot terrorism. They can just as easily do it in a US-funded country like Pakistan.

    Simply put....I would rather give air conditiioning to our brave men in women in uniform then to the unproductive dirtbags who are in prison living off our dime.

    We spend in exess of 75 billion dollars a year to give inmates better living conditions then we give our soldiers. All the bleeding hearts would be waving their tear soaked hankies in protest if we made the child molesters and rapists live in a tent with 30 other inmates...on a cot... without cable television....eating MRE's.
    "I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play"

    -- Jack Lambert --

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by The Patriot View Post
    Obama doubled the amount of troops in Afghanistan, and you're still complaining. We should be out of there by now. Every dollar and day we spend trying to set up that cardboard democracy is a waste, because it's all going to fall apart once we pull out. Even Republicans recognize that now, which is why they're pushing for an indefinite occupation, which is also ridiculous given the economy. Terrorists don't need a country like Afghanistan to plot terrorism. They can just as easily do it in a US-funded country like Pakistan.
    Almost every single word in every single sentence is FALSE. First off, I listen to a program on NPR almost every day called "World Have Your Say". They field phone calls from literally every nation in the World. The OVERWHELMING sentiment from those callers, EVEN from callers who dislike most US policy is a clamoring for NATO and the US to stay in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Why? Well, let's address another thing you're completely wrong about in your post...Af/Pak are NOT separate issues...in fact, read and watch this:

    http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/taliba...ry?id=14096877

    Taliban IN PAKISTAN (NOT Afghanistan) executed 16 PAKISTANI policemen. In cold blood. If we leave, Afghanistan will crumble and fall RIGHT BACK into the Taliban's hands...and Pakistan, which is armed with nuclear weapons, will fall right behind it. If we follow naive Utopian policy, that is the nightmare scenario we will fall into. I don't give a flying fuck if a few GOP want to follow the polls along with Obama so they can get reelected, it's crystal clear that the American people in general are too short-sighted, too naive and too stupid to know what's best for them. Two or three dirty nukes in NY, DC and LA and the same people parroting your lines will be calling for "their" heads for not protecting them from this.

    Guess what? THIS IS PROTECTING YOU FROM THAT!

    Obama doubled the troops in Afghanistan, yes, then he turned right around and said they would all leave in two years. Moronic. The world is a rough and tumble place, and a President who rules by the polls is not what we need right now.

    Oh, and Iraq? There is a damned good chance it will become a satellite of Iran if we leave there, too. They have virtually no military of their own, and would be easy pickings for Iran. And there is virtually no chance that the politicians or the American people will have the stomach (not to mention the cash) to deploy a couple hundred thousand troops over there yet again when it happens.

    So this nonsensical leftist garbage about all of just getting along needs to be ignored, once and for all.
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Sorry, between this and the complete debacle of the debt ceiling, I'm really starting to get angry. This partisan bickering and political posturing is ransacking the integrity and prestige of the US, and the denseness of the general populace in relatively simple matters makes this exponentially less bearable.
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Your article says the attack was launched out of Afghanistan. I agree it is probable that the Taliban would eventually retake Afghanistan if the US were to pull out, but the prospect of them toppling Pakistan in a war and obtaining nuclear weapons is a boogieman reality. They want control of Afghanistan, and picking a fight with Pakistan would once again bring NATO and maybe even Russia and China down on their heads. Russia, China, and India all face the threat of Islamic terrorism obtaining weapons of mass destruction just as much as the US, but for some reason the US and NATO are the ones who have to police the Islamic countries that border those Eastern Powers.

    Elected officials, like the president, are supposed to be sensitive to voters' opinions. You are stating opinions, not facts. Keep that in mind before you ridicule a rising majority of the US for disagreeing with you. I listen to NPR as well, and it doesn't surprise me that many people from the Middle East would support the US' occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. They're not paying for it. I wouldn't mind China stepping in to end the Mexican drug violence.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by LLT View Post
    Simply put....I would rather give air conditiioning to our brave men in women in uniform then to the unproductive dirtbags who are in prison living off our dime.

    We spend in exess of 75 billion dollars a year to give inmates better living conditions then we give our soldiers. All the bleeding hearts would be waving their tear soaked hankies in protest if we made the child molesters and rapists live in a tent with 30 other inmates...on a cot... without cable television....eating MRE's.
    I'm not criticizing funding the troops. If you're going to station them in the desert for 10 years, you'd better make sure they're comfortable. My complaint is why they're still in the desert.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    I give up again.

    God help this Country......
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    More reasons for us to think carefully about how we leave these countries, as well as the fate of those we leave behind:

    http://www.ohio.com/editorial/trudy-...ehind-1.226486

    PHILADELPHIA: Americans like to think of themselves as a moral people. So is it really possible that we will abandon thousands of Iraqis who risked their lives to help American troops and civilians but now face a grave threat of being killed as “collaborators”? The short answer is yes. It looks as if we will reward these Iraqis’ loyalty with betrayal, including many who worked as interpreters for our troops. As we head toward a final U.S. military exit by the end of 2011, there is no plan to evacuate them. And here’s something equally shameful: Despite a 2008 act of Congress that called for 25,000 special immigrant visas over five years for Iraqis endangered because they helped Americans, fewer than 7,000 of those visas have been issued. The flow of special visas has shrunk to just nine in April, and zero in June due to new security requirements (more about that in a moment).
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Suit, you may be missing the point, at least my point. The issue(s) are troops (casualties) and money spent. Casualties can't be totally avoided but the cost can be brought under control better than what they are now. You can't tell me with a straight face that spending 20.2 BILLION dollars is absolutely necessary. There HAS to be a more efficient way of providing comfort in the desert.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    If you want to be scared about how much money the government wastes in the Middle-Easy, watch Iraq for Sale. It's about how Halliburton, after securing all the private contracts in Iraq, paid for all of there expenses on the Federal Governments dime. If a truck's tire went flat...they wouldn't fix it, they just blow it up, buy a new one, and bill it to the US. unbelievable.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    I do understand your point. But what can we do? The US military is wasteful, and its one of the things our government does best. The problem is, the state department is heavily involved, which increases the scope of the rest of our government involvement...and we all know how inefficient our government is. But its what we have to run with, and I'm saying that our moral obligation to both those countries near future, and our own security for decades to come are worth almost any price. I wish the US government was more efficient, but it is not. We still gotta dance with the one that bring us, though....
    Fire Goodell

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Quote Originally Posted by suitanim View Post
    I do understand your point. But what can we do? The US military is wasteful, and its one of the things our government does best. The problem is, the state department is heavily involved, which increases the scope of the rest of our government involvement...and we all know how inefficient our government is. But its what we have to run with, and I'm saying that our moral obligation to both those countries near future, and our own security for decades to come are worth almost any price. I wish the US government was more efficient, but it is not. We still gotta dance with the one that bring us, though....
    At any price? You sound as though money is no object. There is a limit to what we can pay as a country before it gets to the point where we can't pay anything.

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    Re: $20.2 Billion spent on air conditioning in Afghanistan ...

    Our military philosophy has been for quite some time that lives are way more important than money. It is our military doctrine. That, coupled with a long-term strategy of destabilizing our enemies, while attempting to strengthen the stability of our allies, is how we've been able to largely keep the peace on a global scale for the last 60 years with a relatively small spilling of Americans blood. Think about how many US fighting personnel we have lost since 1945, relative to the exponentially increased killing capacity of our collective weaponry. Hell, one nuke could probably wipe out 100 times as many casualties as we have had in ALL of our wars since WWII.

    There is a reason for that. I think it is worth a lot of treasure to keep that track record in place. We live in a far more dangerous world than we did in the middle of the last century, where even a small, poorly armed and organized enemy could, given the right circumstances (i.e. the Taliban taking control of Af/Pak) deal us the worst blows we have ever experienced. I say spend billions of dollars and thousands of lives now to save trillions of dollars and millions of lives later.
    Fire Goodell

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