Afghanistan Slaps U.S. With $1 Billion Tax Bill

[eddie]

You gotta be kidding me! I've never seen such a worthless bunch of clowns in my life! They know where they can stick that bill!

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/07/02/Afghanistan-Slaps-US-With-$1-Billion-Tax-Bill

[Skybird]

I'm saying it since so many years: trapped in the Afghan maze.

One should have waged the war in Afghanistan against the Koran schools in Pakistan. One should have left it to the original goal of the mission: searching, finding and killing Bin Laden (finally found and terminated in - surprise surprise - Pakistan). And one should have left that rat-hole of a place to itself. Wasn't worth the life of a single American or European soldier. It's stuck in the medieval like it was stuck in the medieval before and was stuck in the medieval before the Russian invasion. It will continue to be stuck there when the last Western soldier has left the place. The corruption will still be there. The suppression of women soon will be on former levels. The flow of drugs will be high as ever. Patriarchalism and tribalism will be as ever. Old bills between clans and warlords having their private armies will be as ever.

Paul Meier or John Smith who were killed for that - what was the value of their deaths? To see warlords and Taliban and the ISI and the Iranians and drug smugglers going back to business as usual?

Let's face it, this is the complete result of the past 14 years' ambitions and declarations, when the last troops have left: after the war is like before the war.

One could have known it in advance. And some did, and warned. And were not listened to. The world was drunk of empathy for post-9/11 America. And the empathy switched off intellects all over the West. The Paul Meiers and John Smiths in Nato's armies died useless, needless, pointless deaths because of that: political drunkenness. There is a whole list of political leaders that should get hanged for that, because it is not as if they could not have known. They could have known it.

That is what is the worst in it all, maybe: they could have known it, if only they would have wanted. Nothing of this final result came as a surprise. Nothing of it was unforseeable.

It makes me sick to see well-intended men, idealistic helpers, and troops in good faith of their government being betrayed and wasted so unscrupulously and carelessly.

[Tribesman]

You gotta be kidding me! I've never seen such a worthless bunch of clowns in my life! They know where they can stick that bill!

The bills already paid, so all you can tell them is where to stick your receipt.
The joys of cost plus subcontracting on the nation building.
You paid $1100 per year per employee just for work permits.
You paid $113,000 per year for business licences for each of the 40 firms of mercenaries, plus of course each of their $378,000 good conduct deposits.
Karzai is laughing all the way to his deposits in Geneva

[Armistead]

You can't fix that chit hole of a place, just a money pit for defense contractors, etc.

Seems the only nation we're not rebuilding is our own...

[Stealhead]

You can have no doubt that the contractors made a killing over there and the government foot bill.

[Tribesman]

You can have no doubt that the contractors made a killing over there and the government foot bill.
I like the way they screw you over on the import tax exemption on supplies
20 bucks a time for anything you want exempted, plus another 10 if its shipped for a civilian contractor, and the US government pays both the fees.

[AVGWarhawk]

Just another day at the races! :yeah:

[Oberon]

Well, Karzai has to have some money to bribe his way past the muslim militia when his government collapses and they come to cut his head off.
He's probably already got his luxury villa in Italy sorted.
Probably time-share it with Berlesconi, they're both as corrupt as each other. :haha:

[Stealhead]

Well, Karzai has to have some money to bribe his way past the muslim militia when his government collapses and they come to cut his head off.
He's probably already got his luxury villa in Italy sorted.
Probably time-share it with Berlesconi, they're both as corrupt as each other. :haha:


In the case of Afghanistan it really is not a stereotype to say the doing things underhanded is literally the way things are done.

[nikimcbee]

Just put them on obamacare. Then we'll see who taxes who.:/\\k:

I see your billion and tax yousa guys a trillion.

[Tribesman]

Just put them on obamacare. Then we'll see who taxes who.:/\\k:

That's funny since it was Bush who set up the "taxes" and his friends at Halliburton who is making you pay their bills

[Jimbuna]

Karzai is obviously more of an astute businessman than many gave him credit for (myself included)....looks like he has a tidy pension fund in some far off place he will be retiring to in the not too distant future.

[Platapus]

At least we can rest assured that all the money spent in AF was money well spent. :yep:



no, I can't back that up. :nope: