U.S. military dismayed by delays in 3 key development projects in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Army Sgt. Chris Sutton strums a guitar inside a helicopter during some quiet time in Kandahar, which has received U.S. agriculture aid.


U.S. military dismayed by delays in 3 key development projects in Afghanistan
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran

U.S. aid officials have been forced to delay three large development programs intended to support the American military strategy in southern Afghanistan at a critical, make-or-break moment in the war.

The initiatives, which are supposed to support local governments, agricultural development and job-training efforts, have been held up by bureaucratic missteps and funding cuts by Congress, according to senior U.S. officials. As a result, the programs will not begin until much of the summer fighting season has concluded.

~snip~

“There will be no gaps in USAID’s stabilization programming this summer,” said Earl Gast, the agency’s director in Afghanistan.

But in the case of the program to support local governments — designed to help train officials and fund small reconstruction projects — the interim efforts will not be as robust as the delayed initiative, according to development specialists familiar with the issue.

With regard to the agriculture program — aimed at creating more farm-related jobs — USAID is considering whether to extend a costly project that some of the agency’s senior leaders deem ineffective and wasteful in an attempt to mollify the military until a new assistance program is implemented. The new program was supposed to have started six months ago.



unhappycamper comment: I'm getting tired of all these 'progress' reports and 'make-or-break moment in the war' comments. Either we are 'winning' (whatever that means) or we are just blowing $$$$$. We are pissing away at least $200 billion dollars a year (direct occupation costs, contractor costs, USAID costs just to name a few) to keep this occupation going.

[DontTreadOnMe]

1. How much of our National Debt is from WAR?

Can someone post a definitive dollar amount we have spent on "war" in the last 10 years? 20 years?

[Gravel Democrat]

3. costofwar.com

http://costofwar.com

$1,186,569,619,676 @ 04:24 am Sat 4/30/11

at >2,000/sec watch it grow like a cancer

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?



http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

scale: That red thing on the left is a person and those are double stacked pallets of $100 dollar bills. Do you feel safer now? Do black budget contractors feel more wealthy?

watch as it divides us all and consumes our children's children with debt and blowback.

watch as your supposed wealth as a nation is torched by sellouts and lobbyists.

watch a Republic Die in front of your eyes.

And watch people Not Give A Fuck

America was always an Idea. It will live again, thanks to history. For now, I'm outta here

These are people that, as a whole, do not care that machines have replaced their (largely unseen) soldiers. Corruption and insanity run amok. And it will probably get worse.

[ixion]

2. 'war'... it's not a 'war'

It's a playground for the MIC at taxpayer expense, and a turkey shoot, per my sig line.

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. The waste, fraud and greed is staggering

Bring our troops home and end this nightmare.