Yesterday, the president announced that the U.S. signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Afghanistan, committing the United States to the country for a long time to come. The agreement addressed the transition to Afghan-led security forces by 2014. Human and monetary costs to the U.S. will continue to skyrocket.
According to a recent article in The Atlantic, the U.S. spends an estimated $14,000 per Afghan troop per year. The long-term costs to the U.S. to train the 352,000 Afghan security troops we are counting on to allow the withdrawal of U.S. troops will be over $4 billion per year; or more than $40 billion over the next 10 years. The Associated Press recently highlighted a report that raises significant questions regarding International Security Assistance Force claims that there have been Afghan-led military operations, an indicator of progress toward Afghan military self-sufficiency, a cornerstone of our strategy.
It is widely recognized that much of al Qaeda's leadership and presence in Afghanistan has been decimated. Since the death of Osama bin Laden exactly one year ago, we have lost 381 U.S. troops. The president stated that 'we must give Afghanistan the opportunity to stabilize.' The assertion that maintaining a long-term presence in the country is the best way to prevent future attacks on the U.S. belies the reality on the ground: that our mere presence is destabilizing. The events of the past few months alone -- the Koran burnings, coordinated attacks by the Taliban in Kabul, and the killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. solider -- should be enough of an indication that more time in Afghanistan is not the answer.
America has been lulled to sleep by the mind-boggling elongation of a war seven thousand miles away. The plain fact is we are not exiting Afghanistan, despite the appearances that the White House is trying to create. We are staying. Have we learned nothing from 10 years of quagmire? It is time to bring our troops home safely and responsibly.
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Howard Fineman: Mission Accomplished?
Robert Naiman: What Did We Get for 381 U.S. Dead Since the Death of bin Laden?
http://www.juancole.com/2011/12/iran-has-us-surrounded-all-right.html
Will Iran Be Attacked?
Paul Craig Roberts
Infowars.com
, 2012
Washington has made tremendous preparations for a military assault on Iran. There is speculation that Washington has called off its two longest running wars–Iraq and Afghanistan–in order to deploy forces against Iran. Two of Washington’s fleets have been assigned to the Persian Gulf along with NATO warships. Missiles have been spread amongst Washington’s Oil Emirate and Middle Eastern puppet states. US troops have been deployed in Israel and Kuwait.
Washington has presented Israel a gift from the hard-pressed american taxpayers of an expensive missile defense system, money spent for Israel when millions of unassisted americans have lost their homes. As no one expects Iran to attack Israel, except in retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iran, the purpose of the missile defense system is to protect Israel from an Iranian response to Israeli aggression against Iran
http://www.infowars.com/will-iran-be-attacked/
No clear objective but nation building Empires
Author, John Perkins, former economic hitman, wrote about how the game is played in his excellent book "Confessions of an Economic Hitman."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTbdnNgqfs8 (part I) and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29GhXsx7-Rs (part2)
All PUBLIC INFORMATION
All the best to you and your family!
What profit you to gain the world and lose your soul?
Charts: The Real Cost of Killing Bin Laden
—By Dave Gilson
November 2004, Osama bin Laden declared, "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy." The United States' reaction to the September 11 attacks, he reasoned, proved that terrorism's power lay not simply in its potential for carnage but in its ability to prod a superpower to incur costly, crippling financial expenses in its pursuit of security. "The real loser," he concluded, would be "the American people and their economy."
Bin Laden was killed a year ago, ending what was arguably the most costly manhunt in history. However, his death did not mark the end of the massive expenses racked up during the decade following September 11, many of which will be with us for the forseable future. A quick look at the numbers:
much more on link above