Remember where that DEBT came from?

U.S. infrastructure boom in Afghanistan: $37 million aviation facility used to store opium 21 Sep 2013 The U.S.-led effort to train the Afghan air force faces big challenges ranging from security threats to possible repercussions from a new review of infrastructure and equipment projects, the U.S. general in charge said. "This is a hard deal. We're far from 100-percent guaranteed on delivery," said Air Force Brigadier General John Michel, who leads NATO Air Training Command Afghanistan, which is due to complete its training of the Afghan air force by December 31, 2017 - three years after most U.S. forces leave Afghanistan. He said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force was re-examining all infrastructure projects after a report that one $37 million aviation facility may have been used to store opium and other concerns raised by Congress. A group of U.S. lawmakers this week called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to use all available resources to back up the Pentagon's criminal investigation into potentially improper payments made by an Army aviation unit that awarded contracts to Russian and U.S. firms to maintain and overhaul Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. [Debt ceiling debate, anyone?]

US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq to cost $6 trillion 19 Sep 2013 The decade-long American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would end up costing as much as $6 trillion, the equivalent of $75,000 for every American household, calculates Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. When President [sic] George Bush's National Economic Council Director, Lawrence Lindsey, had told the The Wall Street Journal that the war would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, he found himself under intense fire from his colleagues in the administration which claimed that this was a gross overestimation. Consequently, Lindsey was forced to resign. The Bush administration had claimed at the outset that the Iraq war would be financed via Iraqi oil revenues, but Washington D.C. instead borrowed $2 trillion to finance the two wars, the bulk of it from foreign lenders. [See that? When it comes to financing US wars for oil and opium, the 'debt ceiling' matters about as much as a June bug in July. --LRP]

Ah, then came the dawn. Companies seek to move in on Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth 22 Sep 2013 Few companies showed up to Afghanistan's fresh appeal for investment in its vast mineral wealth on Sunday, apparently deterred by trouble plaguing two of its largest projects and allowing small firms to emerge as the main contenders. Hopes are pinned on Afghanistan's trillion dollar wealth in resources weaning the country off international aid bribes, but early attempts to unlock its potential have hit serious setbacks. These appeared to have deterred major international firms from attending - leaving the path open to small investors with unconventional backgrounds criminals, prepared to take on deteriorating security and uncertainty ahead of next year's 'election.'

 

http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news