$7.3 million camp for Afghan police found nearly empty: inspectors

(Reuters) - A $7.3 million base camp built to house 175 Afghan Border Police was sitting virtually empty two months after it was handed over to Afghan authorities, and some equipment like wood-burning stoves had been dismantled, U.S. inspectors reported on Tuesday. The facility, located in Kunduz Province, consisted of 12 buildings, including a dining hall, that were contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers and completed September 3, 2012, according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Inspectors who visited the site to ensure construction by Omran Construction, Consulting and Engineering Co was carried out according to contract found only a dozen Afghan personnel at the camp and nearly all of the buildings locked, SIGAR reported.

www.reuters.com...

Unreal. The whole Shebang in Afghanistan. Seems like they just don't give a single %^%.

Unreal. The whole Shebang in Afghanistan. Seems like they just don't give a single %^%.

They dont want us there, none of them do.
The civilians dont want us, the Afghan Army doesnt want us and of course the Taliban dont want us.
We're only there to guard poppy fields and the Chinese that are mining rare earth elements.

reply to post by Juggernog


Once upon a time (during the Iraq invasion thingy) I supported Western help to these countries. Now it just seems like they take that help for granted (politically)
- Nowadays I think yeah sure, build a school here, a hospital there, but draw the line.
No Guns, No jets, no military training for the Snackbars until they show they give a damn.

reply to post by canucks555

Once upon a time (during the Iraq invasion thingy) I supported Western help to these countries. Now it just seems like they take that help for granted (politically)

We didnt help them. We destroyed their country, killed civilians (collateral damage of course), raped little girls and burned their families, polluted their land with Depleted Uranium and ruined a long standing peace between the shia and sunni muslims

reply to post by canucks555


I have been through this nonsense personally and it is enough to make me sick.

You read about an X million dollar this or Y million dollar that. That is BS. I have no doubt that much money came and went but in no way shape or form does it reside in the quality or quantity of the item on the ground.

The physical POS given to or built for the Afghani's or the Iraq's or whomever was most likely never wanted in the first place. It never costed X or Y million dollars but that much was spent to pay for the obscenely overpriced acquisition of said item. This is what happens when you have 50 different contractors with their fingers in the pie between the US Treasury and the soil of any given country.

The fact this particular facility is empty is not unique. It is more the norm. Even if it was occupied, it would be a pile of garbage within a year. Bet on it. Culturally, they never paid for it so why bother keeping it up? It turns into one giant latrine. This is not ATS hot air, I got stories and pictures and video to back it up.


Sorry bad memories kicking in. All better now after venting

reply to post by Juggernog


I'd like to argue these points you just made but unfortunately don't have a leg to stand on -for the most part I agree with you. But at the same time am no Taliban fan. They (the civies) were f&^&7ed from both sides. Seems they're gonna be F%^%ed for ever.

reply to post by ABNARTY


I believe you. It's the 'ol 100$ toothbrush syndrome. Thanks for venting

it's called the stimulus package.

and it shows that america has no clue about afghan society, they don't call the police, they handle their own problems and don't call outsiders.

e.g. someone steals a goat. they don't call the police to come take a report, then says he has no evidence to charge the thief with because the goat is in his belly, then leaving you fuming while the thief picks his teeth with a toothpick.

in afghan society, if the thief doesn't return the goat or compensation, he will find himself quickly without hands or worse, without a head.

that's why the police station is empty.

Maybe they don't like the boxy style of western architecture. Maybe they don't know how to operate the $1000 toilette, but more seriously:
Maybe they're afraid to use it. I'd think that if not properly manned it would be a magnet for insurgents. Might be good for ones health just to stay the hell away from it.

reply to post by canucks555
General Mac was on the tube yesterday for a chat. Said he tried to put together a team of folks that understood the Afgand ways, culture and mind ect, a team that one would think would have been in place long before that......but it got tied up in army red tape. So....one gets the idea that us is moving around with brute force only, kickbacks and payoffs, power sharing...what have you.

$720m on late fees for forgetting to return shipping containers

The amount of money squandered over the past ten years amounts to at least one in every six dollars spent,


www.dailymail.co.uk...

It isn't just the States either. It's all of the Western countries involved. Must be a good time to be a middle man

I thought that when Obama was elected in 2008 he was going to get us out of our war zones?

What happened.

Originally posted by ABNARTY
reply to post by canucks555

 

norm. Even if it was occupied, it would be a pile of garbage within a year. Bet on it. Culturally, they never paid for it so why bother keeping it up? It turns into one giant latrine. This is not ATS hot air, I got stories and pictures and video to back it up.


Sorry

bad memories kicking in. All better now after venting

Quite literally one big latrine. Squatters in shiny new buildings taking a crap in the corners and building fires... etc. Tearing down adn rebuilding it 3 times because they trash it... and dont even bother preventing the damage! Vent all you want. It'd be nice if there was a little truth here concerning this nonsense

that sounds like a normal military camp when you put it like that

Originally posted by Wildbob77
I thought that when Obama was elected in 2008 he was going to get us out of our war zones?

What happened.

Follow the money
Obama and people working for him are getting money for the wars and if they stopped them the money would dry up

Its the same with gun control and immigration reform they are at the point of dealing for the biggest payoff to see what they will do.

Its Chicago politics at its worst .
Chicago and its suburbs have averaged 51 public corruption convictions per year since 1976,
www.csmonitor.com...

reply to post by Advantage


Which part is not truthful?

Originally posted by Juggernog

Unreal. The whole Shebang in Afghanistan. Seems like they just don't give a single %^%.

They dont want us there, none of them do.
The civilians dont want us, the Afghan Army doesnt want us and of course the Taliban dont want us.
We're only there to guard poppy fields and the Chinese that are mining rare earth elements.

Dont forget lithium mining. Lots of lithium in afghanistan.

Originally posted by ABNARTY
reply to post by Advantage

 

Which part is not truthful?

WTF.. I didnt say anything about what you said being untruthful.

reply to post by canucks555


You may have heard the old line before, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Its a good line, but it has a basic assumption. That assumption is that the man would rather fish than go hungry.

So maybe an addendum would be, "But you can't *make* him fish even if you get a him a boat and a fishing pole if he chooses not to fish."

In many cases I suspect these guys have been taught to fish and been given the equipment to fish. But they are choosing not to fish..

In cases like this, its may be best to wish them good luck, cut your losses and call it day for the fishing lessons.

reply to post by Frogs

In cases like this, its may be best to wish them good luck, cut your losses and call it day for the fishing lessons.

Im sure they want nothing more than to see the US out of their country.