U.S. Wasting Billions While Tripling No-Bid Contracts

War Dollars Could Fill Deficit Gaps of All State Budgets.

In a commentary on Huffington Post yesterday William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, estimated that the amount of money spent on the war in Afghanistan could fill the deficit gaps of all state budgets:

"...Those genuinely concerned about war costs need to go where the money is -- Afghanistan. The Pentagon has asked for $113 billion to fight the war there for this year, roughly two and one-half times what has been requested to support the United States' dwindling commitment in Iraq. That gap will only increase as troop numbers in Iraq continue to fall. To put this in some perspective, the entire Gross Domestic Product of Afghanistan is about $29 billion per year, which means that annual U.S. expenditures on the war are nearly four times the value of the entire Afghan economy. That number would obviously change if the drug economy were taken into account, but it is stunning nonetheless.

The tax dollars being spent on Afghanistan are enough to offset the $100 billion per year that House Republicans are seeking to cut from next year's budget, or enough to fill the projected budget gaps of the 44 states that expect to run deficits in 2012. In other words, if the Afghan war ended and the funds allocated for it were returned to the states, no state in America would run a deficit next year. This would save millions of jobs of teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees while holding the line on basic services like Medicaid and income support for families in poverty. This would in turn be good for the economy as a whole. Military spending creates fewer jobs than virtually any other form of expenditure, from education to housing to transportation. So shifting funds away from war spending will result in a net increase in jobs nationwide...."

Source: William Hartung, America's Costliest War, Huffington Post April 5. 2011.

Karzai: Nato skal stoppe alle operationer

"Jeg vil gerne bede Nato og USA med ære og ydmydighed og ikke med arrogance at standse deres operationer i vort land, sagde Karzai under besøget i Kunar-provinsen lørdag.

Hvis dette er en krig imod terrorister og international terrorisme, så skulle de tage hen og kæmpe denne krig, hvor vi over de seneste ni år har vist dem, at den er, tilføjede han - tilsyneladende en henvisning til grænseområdet mellem Afghanistan og Pakistan.

Vi er et meget tolerant folk, men nu er vi løbet tør for tolerance."

Information/ritzau/AFP.

Afghanere ved ikke hvorfor deres land er besat.

Citat fra en artikel på MSNBC.com. den 19. Oktober.

"Few Afghans in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Taliban strongholds where fighting remains fiercest, know why foreign troops are in Afghanistan, says the "Afghanistan Transition: Missing Variables" report to be released later on Friday.

The report by The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) policy think-tank showed 92 percent of 1,000 Afghan men surveyed in Helmand and Kandahar know nothing of the hijacked airliner attacks on U.S. targets in 2001."

Kabul officials critical of US troop increase - 19 May 09

Afghanske civile myrdet af amerikansk militær.

The US military has admitted that its troops killed four civilians in Afghanistan, including a child, not fighters as was earlier reported.

The US has also offered an apology for the deaths on Wednesday night and indicated that the family will receive support.

Brigadier-General Michael Ryan said in a statement late on Thursday: "We deeply regret the tragic loss of life in this precious family."

A 13-year-old boy who survived the night-time raid on his home told Al Jazeera that his mother, brother, uncle and another female family member were killed.

A woman who was nine months' pregnant was wounded and lost her baby.

Obamas Foreløbige Udenrigspolitik.

Det oprindelige indlæg er blevet slettet, men jeg refererer i stedet til min artikel fra i år omhandlende Obamas udenrigspolitik efter nu to år ved magten. Den omhandler selvfølgelig på ingen måde alle aspekter ved denne, men giver blot et overblik over USAs fortsatte alliancer med stærkt kritisable regimer. Det kan læses på Kontradoxa.

Samtidig med dette kan man orientere sig nærmere om Obama's udenrigspolitik ved at trykke på tagsne nedenunder dette blogindlæg som linker til andre relevante artikler som har været bragt på bloggen.