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Seriously, there is no reason I can think of to leave our technology in the hands of the enemy.
If we aren't going to take it with us, then we should've destroyed it.
Otherwise, it seems almost unavoidable that some of what was left there will be purchased by China, and Russia for reverse engineering. It makes the free world less secure. Absolutely stupid!
Like most things Afghanistan, damned if do and damned if you don't...
The Shop
Industrial war complex. They now get paid to build all brand new hi-tech military equipment , and charge us all up the ass in taxes for it. War = money.
Who hear remembers Halliburton? Remember the worlds largest defense contractor? The company who told Generals to pass down the line to just take the air filter off that $500,000 Humvee and let the dust ruin it? The ones who said " Leave all that stuff behind , we'll get more made ". The same company that had our Government pay them back $2.00 for every $1.00 spent?
Leaving 85 billion back in the desert , just made companies like this just shy of $200 Billion!
And were paying for it........AND.......now that the enemies are armed , it'll cost even more to defeat them. Perfect! They did exactly what they wanted to happen. And they'll be laughing all the way to the bank.
Something you guys may not be aware of...I wasn't till the end of the 1st gulf war...all that equipment is full of middle east seeds, germs, insects, etc. Stuff that could potentially decimate crops here in the US. It all has to be sterilized...which is monumentally expensive.
I also fully believe that the defense industry lobbies hard to just leave it behind. It means contracts for them but,as much of a pill as it is to swallow,. It also means 100's of thousands of direct jobs and millions indirect.
Our taxes buy it but...the great wages provided in the making...I don't know if it's a wash but it's real.
Instead of building things that kill everything , and then waste it on top of that? .......it aint right. I'm all for protecting our country , I'm against the massive waste. Leave behind a 2 million dollar tank , because it might take $5,000.00 to thoroughly clean it? Or a $2500.00 rifle that would take 10 mins to completely sanitize? That's bullshit!
The more concerning problem (in my mind) is the military being forced to buy inferior equipment based solely on political pressure. The recent award to Air Tractor (a highly modified crop duster) for the Armed Overwatch program. There isn't a pilot in the evaluation process that believed this aircraft superior in any way to the competition.
In my experience, when an incapable platform is forced on the service and they still are tasked with a mission...they will backdoor a small batch purchase of equipment that does meet there needs. There's some of your waste.
The military procurement process is so politicized and conveluted it's beyond comprehension.
I don't want to come off as a nut job conspirist...it's a simple matter of money. If you were to add up the worth (influence) of Boeing, Lockheed, Textron and the 1000's of other contractors/subcontractors...it's probably not far off our entire GDP. Money equals influence equals control.
About 10 years ago that changed. Now, the developers determine what to develop. It would be great to assume what's developed is based on our needs, but considering the conflict of interest, it is highly based on what they have to offer, and what they can make a profit from.
This needs to return to the way it was.
If Chevy or ford can shut your car down anywhere in the county why couldn't the govt do the same to any war equipment it owns?
if the bugs are an issue couldn't the equipment be moved to a base or country the USA is friendly with in that territory?
Pit Row
If we had brought all that equipment out of the country...the Afghans and the world would have screamed that it was our fault the Taliban took over. It was a no win situation. Probably a big factor in not withdrawing years earlier.
As much as we point fingers and yell "ignorance"...there are some brainy mofo's looking at every possible scenario. When we see a cluster fuck like this...there's a good chance every other option was worse. Sometimes you gotta take your lumps.
Shit gets left behind.
Most of the stuff left there is junk. We’ve been over there 20+ years guys.
An old tank? It’s not even worth bringing it back. A black hawk helicopter? It took them over a year to find other parts laying around before even getting it off the ground. Big whoop.
I’m more pissed about how we left. Not what we left.
Hell, open up the engine cowling and knock a couple of air foils off with a hammer.
But you could go in the "dash" and take a couple of parts out, and no worky without parts and knowledge.
On a fighter, just deploy the ejection seat. Dunzo...
Seems pretty easy and I’m sure there were more of those laying around than aircraft.
I mean Iran has f14s from when they were a USA Allie , do they make their own spares ?
Here's something an engineer told me long ago. When you plug in fuel and weapons load...top speed, take off and landing speed requirements, maneuverability into a computer...it will say a sweep wing aircraft is the only option...and it is. The problem is maintainability. Just too damn many moving parts and points of failure.
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