Time for some action!
President Obama has just addressed the nation on the subject of the Afghanistan war. Specifically, he's going to make good on a promise made a year-and-a-half ago: to begin the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan next month.
The big question everyone's been speculating about in the run-up to this announcement has been how big of a troop pull out . Now that Bin Laden is dead, Obama has a wider range of options to choose from, in terms of how fast he's going to get our troops home. Bin Laden's death meant (among other things) that Obama has the political leeway to withdraw troops much faster now. The American public is tired of this war (when they even notice we're still fighting it), and the politicians have slowly come to realize this fact. Both Democratic and Republican support for the war is fading in Congress, which (again) makes Obama's task that much easier.. The Number of troop reductions "small" as 5,000-10,000 troops pulled out before the end of this year, "medium" as 10,000-25,000, and "large" as over 25,000 troops withdrawn. I further concluded that "medium" was the likely route Obama would take,This would still leave roughly 75,000-90,000 troops in Afghanistan next year, which is still over twice the number Bush ever devoted to the war. Obama will likely (no matter how fast he withdraws initially) review the Afghanistan situation at the end of this year, and could then elect to slow the withdrawal after a fairly large initial pullout, if circumstances on the ground merit it. Obama could also speed up the withdrawal in 2012.
The Afghan war has been a BIG waste of MONEY for the American Government . It's been costly , and literally the nation building failed ,the United States has been ramping up its reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan: Money is flowing to a host of new projects, from roadbuilding in Paktika province to the construction of new police headquarters in Wardak..
That means tremendous opportunities for government contractors; it also brings the potential for billions in wasteful spending. Since 2001, the United States has provided around $32 billion in aid and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. But unfortunately, the top government watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction is only just getting around to checking the books.
The Associated Press’ Richard Lardner reports that the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (nice acronym: SIGAR) still lacks adequate staff to do its job. What’s more, the office is off to a very late start: The SIGAR didn’t even start work until last July, seven years after U.S. forces toppled the Taliban. D’oh!
Says Retired Marine Corps Gen. Arnold Fields, the head of SIGAR: “We probably should have done this several years before now … I think we may have lost some ground that we are now trying to make up.”
Since 2001, the U.S. has provided approximately $32 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. That’s on top of the $25.3 billion donated by the international community. If the Iraq experience is any guide, that’s created massive potential for waste, fraud and abuse. The watchdog for Iraq spending, for instance, estimated that around 15 percent — or $3 billion — of the $20 billion spent on major reconstruction projects in Iraq had been wasted.
Allow me to indulge in some fuzzy math. If we assume that money has been spent twice as effectively in Afghanistan — and that’s a big if, considering Afghanistan’s corruption, logistical difficulties and poor rule of law — that’s still $2.4 billion in (potential) wasteful spending out of that $32 billion pot of money. And while it’s important to underscore Washington’s (and the taxpayer’s) commitment to Afghanistan, the firehose of aid money hasn’t exactly won points with ordinary Afghans. If Afghans are on the fence when it comes to supporting their government, enabling more corruption definitely won’t help.
That means tremendous opportunities for government contractors; it also brings the potential for billions in wasteful spending. Since 2001, the United States has provided around $32 billion in aid and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. But unfortunately, the top government watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction is only just getting around to checking the books.
The Associated Press’ Richard Lardner reports that the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (nice acronym: SIGAR) still lacks adequate staff to do its job. What’s more, the office is off to a very late start: The SIGAR didn’t even start work until last July, seven years after U.S. forces toppled the Taliban. D’oh!
Says Retired Marine Corps Gen. Arnold Fields, the head of SIGAR: “We probably should have done this several years before now … I think we may have lost some ground that we are now trying to make up.”
Since 2001, the U.S. has provided approximately $32 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. That’s on top of the $25.3 billion donated by the international community. If the Iraq experience is any guide, that’s created massive potential for waste, fraud and abuse. The watchdog for Iraq spending, for instance, estimated that around 15 percent — or $3 billion — of the $20 billion spent on major reconstruction projects in Iraq had been wasted.
Allow me to indulge in some fuzzy math. If we assume that money has been spent twice as effectively in Afghanistan — and that’s a big if, considering Afghanistan’s corruption, logistical difficulties and poor rule of law — that’s still $2.4 billion in (potential) wasteful spending out of that $32 billion pot of money. And while it’s important to underscore Washington’s (and the taxpayer’s) commitment to Afghanistan, the firehose of aid money hasn’t exactly won points with ordinary Afghans. If Afghans are on the fence when it comes to supporting their government, enabling more corruption definitely won’t help.
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