New York, NY: During the two-decade conflict in Afghanistan and the Middle East, the US military has spent $14 trillion, benefitting arms makers, dealers, and contractors.
According to Dawn.com, a thorough investigation released in the Wall Street Journal found that US military spending in the 20-year conflict has surpassed $14 trillion, with one-third to half of that going to meet the contractors.
The study also claims that US taxpayers’ money was squandered on failed initiatives, such as the Pentagon’s spending $6 million on a project that was never completed. Although nine Italian goats were purchased for this endeavour, it was a failure.
The report also gives a few personal examples of how a destitute guy became a well-known businessman by accepting funds from the US in exchange for a service, such as a young Afghan interpreter who became a famous entrepreneur by selling bed linens to US personnel. ۔
Similarly, a California businessman made billions through a one-time gasoline company in Kyrgyzstan. Two members of the Ohio Army National Guard launched a small business that supplies military interpreters from Afghanistan. It grew to become one of the largest military contractors in the United States, with a revenue of almost $ 4 billion.
According to the research, international contractors frequently employed Afghans to complete their labour but only paid them a fraction of what an American or European employee would earn.
According to the research, international contractors frequently employed Afghans to complete their labour but only paid them a fraction of what an American or European employee would earn.
According to the survey, Afghan linguists’ average monthly salary declined from about 750 in 2012 to 500 in 2021.
The Biden administration has authorised an investigation into how relying on foreign contractors throughout the conflict raises the cost of war in order to reveal the benefactors of this monkey business.
Similarly, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Rebuilding disclosed in his report that just 1.8 billion of the approximately 150 billion spent on the country’s reconstruction was earmarked for development projects, out of a total of 7.8 billion.
Only 15% of total expenditures were spent on new roads, hospitals, bridges, and factories.
Other development initiatives, including military aircraft, police stations, and farming programmes, were either abandoned or destroyed, according to the Special Inspector General’s report.
It should be emphasised that the US has removed all of its soldiers from Afghanistan, where the Taliban government has taken over, and is progressively reducing its force presence in the Middle East to relieve the country of the additional financial load.
