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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA brand-new U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.
The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters building on the dusty moonscape of southwestern Afghanistan that comes with all the tools to wage a modern war. A vast operations center with tiered seating. A briefing theater. Spacious offices. Fancy chairs. Powerful air conditioning.
Everything, that is, except troops.
The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. But the military has no plans to ever use it. Commanders in the area, who insisted three years ago that they did not need the building, now are in the process of withdrawing forces and see no reason to move into the new facility.
For many senior officers, the unused headquarters has come to symbolize the staggering cost of Pentagon mismanagement: As American troops pack up to return home, U.S.-funded contractors are placing the finishing touches on projects that are no longer required or pulling the plug after investing millions of dollars.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-brand-new-us-military-headquarters-in-afghanistan-and-nobody-to-use-it/2013/07/09/2bb73728-e8cd-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html?wprss&google_editors_picks=true
Everything, that is, except troops.
The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. But the military has no plans to ever use it. Commanders in the area, who insisted three years ago that they did not need the building, now are in the process of withdrawing forces and see no reason to move into the new facility.
For many senior officers, the unused headquarters has come to symbolize the staggering cost of Pentagon mismanagement: As American troops pack up to return home, U.S.-funded contractors are placing the finishing touches on projects that are no longer required or pulling the plug after investing millions of dollars.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-brand-new-us-military-headquarters-in-afghanistan-and-nobody-to-use-it/2013/07/09/2bb73728-e8cd-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html?wprss&google_editors_picks=true
The whole structure will probably be demolished. Remember this the next time somebody tells you we need to cut our 'unaffordable' domestic programs.
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A brand-new U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it. (Original Post)
Lasher
Jul 2013
OP
NRaleighLiberal
(60,020 posts)1. What do we do with our abandoned malls? Megachurch!
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)2. K&R
Thanks for posting.........
Cleita
(75,480 posts)3. Our military really needs investigating for this kind of waste. Then reorganization and
oversight where it comes to spending should follow. I believe our Congress and White House are afraid of them and would rather allocate sinful amounts of money for the military budget instead of correcting the corruption that has arisen from the MIC as Eisenhower had warned us so many years ago. Right now our Treasury is just a money candy store for all the private contractors out there draining all the money they can get their hands on from the taxpayers through military spending.