Despite defying all logic, according to an Associated Press
report, “U.S. military officials insisted a top-secret Pentagon study proved
the need to buy Russian helicopters for Afghanistan's security forces.”
Illogical? Yes. Truthful? No! Again, according to the AP,
“the excerpts show the U.S. Army's workhorse Chinook, built by Boeing Co. in
Pennsylvania, was the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the
Afghan Air Force over a 20-year period.”
Wow, is this part of Mr. Obama’s economic stimulus plan …
for Russia? It’s not enough that many of the hi-tech components of our
military’s weapons are manufactured off-shore – often by the Chinese – now we
are going to pay the Russians a billion dollars to build helicopters so we can
give them to the Afghan army.
Let’s put this in perspective people. Our own government is
taking one-billion dollars out of your and my pay to give to a country that
doesn’t like us much to provide jobs making a weapon system that we will give
to another country that doesn’t like us so they can protect themselves from the
Taliban that doesn’t like anyone.
Does anyone honestly believe that this makes sense? Sen.
John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate's No. 2 GOP leader doesn’t. He said DOD
"repeatedly and disingenuously" used the 2010 study to justify the
Russian helicopter as the superior choice for the Afghans.
Although this deal was set in motion in 2010, Congress only
recently received a copy of the document.
Now get this, the Pentagon continues to insist that they
have made the right decision in this acquisition! The rationalization used is
"that the Mi-17 stands apart" when compared with other helicopters.
If that’s true, then why aren’t our forces equipped with these great beasts?
The Pentagon denies it misled Congress. They insist the
refurbished Chinook would cost about 40 percent more to buy and maintain than
the Mi-17.
AP said, “Boeing executives informed congressional staff
during a meeting held in late September that the cost of a refurbished CH-47D
would be in the $12 million to $14 million range, according to a person
knowledgeable about the discussion but not authorized to be identified as the
source of the information.
That would make an overhauled Chinook $4 million to $6
million less than what the department is currently paying for Mi-17s, according
to figures compiled by the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, the Pentagon office
that fills urgent requests for equipment from battlefield commanders.”
I smell a rat! In a country like Russia where corruption in business dealings is simply the cost of doing business, it should come as no surprise that this deal wreaks of misconduct. The amazing part is that our own Pentagon has guzzled the kool-aid and steadfastly insists this is a “good deal.”
Maybe they should try convincing the workers at Boeing of this “good deal.” And while they are at it, they might tell our troops why they think the Mi-17 is a better helicopter than the Chinooks we rely on. I’m afraid both cases would be a hard sell.
I guess this sort of dealings is why many think that
military intelligence is an oxymoron.
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