Washington's singular accomplishment

[xchrom]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MG23Ak01.html

In the method, there is madness; in the comedy, nightmare; in the tragedy, farce.

And despite everything, there's still good news when it comes to what Americans can accomplish in the face of the impossible! No, not a debt-ceiling deal in Washington. So much better than that.

According to Thom Shanker of the New York Times, the United States military has gathered biometric data - "digital scans of eyes, photographs of the face and fingerprints" - on 2.2 million Iraqis and 1.5 million Afghans, with an emphasis on men of an age to become insurgents, and has saved all of it in the Automated Biometric Information System, a vast computerized


database. Imagine: we're talking about one of every 14 Iraqis and one of every 20 Afghans. Who says America's a can't-do nation?

The Pentagon is pouring an estimated US$3.5 billion into its biometric programs (2007 through 2015). And though it's been a couple of rough weeks when it comes to money in Washington, at least no one can claim that taxpayer dollars have been ill-spent on this project. Give the Pentagon just another five to 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan and the biometric endeavor of a lifetime should be complete. Then Washington will be able to identify any Iraqi or Afghan on the planet by eye-scan alone.

Be proud, America!

[Chan790]

1. This strikes me as pointless...

unless we foresee a long future where we're going to have to be able to ID Iraqi and Afghani insurgents and terrorists remains by eyescan.

[ronatchig]

2. perhaps

The pentagon is using Afghanistan to work the bugs out of the biometric technology.
I have long thought that along with the militarization of police forces in the War on Drug users,
they are training American forces in urban enforcement tactics.
Also the UAV technology has been honed as a enforcement tool .

You know, for just in case the rubes get wise.

[bemildred]

3. Way too many science fiction movies taken way too seriously.

But I'll bet it pays extremely well.