How much more money are we going to spend on Afghanistan's infrastructure?

2015-05-09T06:15:09-04:00

According to the below news article, the U.S. is considering spending millions (on top of millions already spent) to build a solar power plant in Kandahar.

(1) What are your thoughts on this? (2) Isn't it time for us to stop rebuilding the infrastructure of other countries and focus on rebuilding our own? (3) How is this kind of spending benefiting the American people (who, after all, are the ones paying for it)? (4) How is this kind of "investment" even sustainable, given our current debt?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/as-us-withdraws-from-afghanistan-darkness-falls-on-talibans-birthplace/2015/05/08/51ca4348-dd76-11e4-b6d7-b9bc8acf16f7_story.html?tid=HP_more?tid=HP_more

As U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, darkness falls on Taliban’s birthplace

A $300 million American military project to bring electricity to Kandahar is falling apart before it ends.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2015 6:30 AM

2015-05-09T06:30:59-04:00

Too much@@@

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2015 6:33 AM

2015-05-09T06:33:24-04:00

You would think we have a never ending supply of disposable income.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 9 at 2015 6:45 AM

2015-05-09T06:45:21-04:00

Disgraceful but then again, try to build it here in the US and all the tree hugging, "not in my back yard" protestors come out and make it impossible.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2015 7:15 AM

2015-05-09T07:15:30-04:00

In my three tours to Afghanistan I noticed a disturbing trend. Some of the locations and types of projects we were funding and providing security for were peculiar. I began to wonder if we weren't building things to draw Taliban attacks to us. Here we are spending millions of dollars on a project the locals want (just not where or when we wanted to build it) and it seemed to get attacked while building or destroyed shortly after completion. If we truly are only there in an advisory capacity then why are we building anything? That time has past, whether a tactic of war or to truly beef up their infrastructure, which will only be owned by the Taliban eventually. They are like dandelions in your yard. As soon as you have them all gone, the seeds from the neighboring yards blow into yours and they're back.

Response by SGT Rick Ash made May 9 at 2015 7:44 AM

2015-05-09T07:44:18-04:00

We have to stop sending billions overseas. Remember that it is OUR money and tax dollars spent on infrastructure should be spent here as Gunny says above.

Response by SSG Adam Wyatt made May 9 at 2015 10:00 AM

2015-05-09T10:00:59-04:00

As much as it takes to jack up our own country.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 9 at 2015 10:03 AM

2015-05-09T10:03:36-04:00

What a great picture to show what a waste of money it probably will be.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made May 9 at 2015 10:29 AM

2015-05-09T10:29:26-04:00

Check with Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British Empire, and the Soviet Union.
http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/86116:afghanistan-where-empires-go-to-die

Afghanistan: Where Empires Go to Die

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On September 7 the Swedish aid agency Swedish Committee for Afghanistan reported that the previous week US soldiers raided on...

Response by SSG Paul Setterholm made May 9 at 2015 10:32 AM

2015-05-09T10:32:24-04:00

Watch the movie "Charlie Wilson's war" with Tom Hanks and you will have a different prospective.

Response by CPO Greg Frazho made May 9 at 2015 11:04 AM

2015-05-09T11:04:27-04:00

I think the key phrase in that story was, "lit like it was in the 19th century." That's about where the Taliban and other such groups want it, although I'd modify that by saying they want things as they were in about the 14th or 15th century, if not earlier. Dependence begets servitude and when you have a populace pining for the days when the Taliban were in charge, there's something clearly very wrong.

It's a vicious cycle, to answer the original question: we can't stay there and hold their hands forever; and yet we're still in Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea after several decades. And you're right to point out that this is costing John Q. Citizen every day for benefits that seem, as best, like mixed blessings. And that's with money we really don't have, for the record.

On the other hand, if Afghanistan, particularly in the heart of Pashtun country, regresses to the way it was before OEF began, we'll be right back where we started in late 2001. If the Afghans could embrace the concept of federalism or some form thereof, maybe, just maybe, the internecine tribal and intra-tribal conflicts could be put to the side and they could harness mother nature's provisions instead of relying indefinitely on generators. Frankly, that seems like a long reach at this point.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2015 11:19 AM

2015-05-09T11:19:42-04:00

At one time Afghanistan was moving into a modern world, then the extreme 5th century islamists took over.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2015 11:36 AM

2015-05-09T11:36:47-04:00

The best things to build in Afghanistan are the simplest, cheapest, and most helpful. Cisterns and water conservation projects are of great assistance to the local population, are very easy to maintain, and are difficult to demolish if the Taliban is feeling frisky. Problem is, they benefit the local insurgents as well. National-level projects like transmission lines and roads to nowhere are fool's errands.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 9 at 2015 1:28 PM

2015-05-09T13:28:59-04:00

I would not be surprised if we spent $100,000,000,000 in the heyday of Iraq and Afghanistan. This is unsustainable.