General John Campbell, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has the world's dirtiest job. He has to convince us that one of the world's biggest failures, the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, is actually going quite well. That can't be easy on his soul.
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that as of 2014 we had spent $60 billion on the Afghan security forces of 300,000 people and $3 billion on humanitarian aid (food, clothing, shelter) for the other 30 million Afghans. That works out to $1,538.00 per year per soldier and $7.70 per year for every other man, woman, and child in Afghanistan. Sounds like a formula for faiure, doesn't it?
Of course, if our government's goal is to weaken Afghan society, then they are doing a very good job. Why would they do that? Probably for the usual U.S. government reason, so they can steal Afghanistan from the Afghans and hand it over to their corporate buddies. That would be a betrayal of humanity, but we're used to that, aren't we?
Bill Distler
VFP-111
Bellingham, WA
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that as of 2014 we had spent $60 billion on the Afghan security forces of 300,000 people and $3 billion on humanitarian aid (food, clothing, shelter) for the other 30 million Afghans. That works out to $1,538.00 per year per soldier and $7.70 per year for every other man, woman, and child in Afghanistan. Sounds like a formula for faiure, doesn't it?
Of course, if our government's goal is to weaken Afghan society, then they are doing a very good job. Why would they do that? Probably for the usual U.S. government reason, so they can steal Afghanistan from the Afghans and hand it over to their corporate buddies. That would be a betrayal of humanity, but we're used to that, aren't we?
Bill Distler
VFP-111
Bellingham, WA