- Aug 8, 2016
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Some casual reading for the benefit of casual passers-by.
A newly published study from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a US government body, founded by Congress in 2008 to provide neutral and objective oversight into the US' handling of Afghan reconstruction programs. The new report is the latest and perhaps most critical of 13 yearly offerings analyzing US efforts in the country.
As an aside, few Americans seem to know that it's an established fact that the United States has been directly paying off the Taliban for well over a decade. The latest SIGAR report notes that Washington has been ''buying'' the insurgents' cooperation, making the Taliban ''unofficial subcontractors to the US government.''
Thsats particularly relevant gven the convenience that entities like ISIS seem to show up at the most politically opportune times, seemingly to keep the war machine going.
“We’re talking about a fountain of money that the Taliban were happy to take. Whether they took it directly or it was the Taliban commander’s cousin that was the contractor, it doesn’t matter. The absurdity of all this — and everyone knew it was going on!” Hoh exclaimed.
Hoh, who had been sent to Iraq to perform essentially the same function, had never seen anything like it. “Holy cow, I was living like Scarface… I was paying out anywhere between $300-400,000 per week to $5 million per week at times. All in cash,” he said.
Anyway. It's rather long. And much is reviewed.
A newly published study from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a US government body, founded by Congress in 2008 to provide neutral and objective oversight into the US' handling of Afghan reconstruction programs. The new report is the latest and perhaps most critical of 13 yearly offerings analyzing US efforts in the country.
As an aside, few Americans seem to know that it's an established fact that the United States has been directly paying off the Taliban for well over a decade. The latest SIGAR report notes that Washington has been ''buying'' the insurgents' cooperation, making the Taliban ''unofficial subcontractors to the US government.''
Thsats particularly relevant gven the convenience that entities like ISIS seem to show up at the most politically opportune times, seemingly to keep the war machine going.
“We’re talking about a fountain of money that the Taliban were happy to take. Whether they took it directly or it was the Taliban commander’s cousin that was the contractor, it doesn’t matter. The absurdity of all this — and everyone knew it was going on!” Hoh exclaimed.
Hoh, who had been sent to Iraq to perform essentially the same function, had never seen anything like it. “Holy cow, I was living like Scarface… I was paying out anywhere between $300-400,000 per week to $5 million per week at times. All in cash,” he said.
Anyway. It's rather long. And much is reviewed.
