Yeah, we all know how well the Russians did in Afghanistan!!! On Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Travis <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/congress-fuming-over-us-purchase-of-russian-helicopters-for-afghanistan/2013/07/12/33aecde0-ced0-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines > **** > > ** ** > Congress fuming over U.S. purchase of Russian helicopters for Afghanistan* > *** By Karen > DeYoung<http://www.washingtonpost.com/karen-deyoung/2011/03/02/AB56xmP_page.html>, > Published: July 12**** > > By the end of 2016, Afghanistan’s air force is due to have 86 Russian-made > Mi-17 helicopters. Most of them will have been purchased by the United > States from Rosoboronexport, the same state weapons exporter that continues > to arm the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.**** > > Congress is not pleased — but has struggled to do anything about it. **** > > The Pentagon says that there is no better, cheaper helicopter than the > Mi-17 to operate in Afghanistan’s desert expanses and high altitudes, and > that it is the aircraft the Afghans know best.**** > > For its latest order of 30 helicopters, the Defense Department sidestepped > a congressional ban imposed last year on using fiscal 2013 funds to buy > anything from Rosoboronexport. Instead, the military found money in its > 2012 Afghanistan budget to finance the nearly $600 million contract.**** > > Adding insult to perceived injury, the Pentagon said it would have gone > ahead with the contract even if it had to use 2013 funds, under a waiver > provision in the ban that allows it to take action it determines to be in > U.S. national security interests.**** > > “Gosh sakes, we won the vote 407 to 5,” fumed Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.), > who spearheaded the prohibition in the House. “These guys are only focused > on Afghanistan and couldn’t care less what is happening in Syria.” Last > month, the House Appropriations Committee added a similar amendment to the > 2014 defense funding bill. **** > > Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who organized last year’s unanimous Senate > vote, chastised the administration for “arrogant circumvention” of > bipartisan congressional will and said, “American taxpayers should not be > indirectly subsidizing the murder of Syrian civilians.” **** > > The dispute over the helicopters is only the latest political controversy > involving Rosoboronexport. In 2006, the George W. Bush administration > accused the company of transferring sensitive technology and weapons to > Iran and eventually imposed sanctions against any U.S. purchases from the > exporter.**** > > The Obama administration lifted the sanctions in 2010 as part of its > policy “reset” toward Russia, after Moscow suspended delivery of S-300 > missiles to Iran — the same advanced antiaircraft system that > Rosoboronexport has contracted to provide Assad — and agreed to support > U.N. sanctions against Iran.**** > > During the sanctions period, the Pentagon bought an initial batch of > Mi-17s for Afghanistan from U.S. contractors who purchased them directly > from Russian manufacturers. **** > > As the United States prepared to tender the recent contract, Russia’s > Defense Ministry decreed that all items destined for “military use” could > be sold only through Rosoboronexport. U.S. contractors cried foul and > sought congressional support when the Pentagon agreed to submit to the new > rule.**** > > Pentagon officials said the Mi-17s are the most sensible solution for > Afghanistan.**** > > “They’ve been using it for years,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in > House testimony in April. “Easy maintenance, unsophisticated. We can get it > pretty quickly. That’s the one they want.”**** > > Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told > lawmakers that the purchase was a crucial component of U.S. withdrawal > plans from Afghanistan. “We are trying . . . to provide them as much > capability as possible so that they can in fact take responsibility for > security” when U.S. combat forces leave at the end of 2014, he said.**** > > But an audit issued two weeks ago by the Special Inspector General for > Afghanistan Reconstruction called the recent 30-helicopter contract > “imprudent.” It said Afghanistan’s rudimentary air force was incapable of > operating and maintaining the aircraft without significant U.S. military > support and called for the contract to be suspended pending further > planning.**** > > Lawmakers have also objected to Russian maintenance training and > spare-parts programs for the helicopters in Afghanistan, an arrangement > worked out by NATO as part of its efforts to foster closer Russian > cooperation with the alliance.**** > > Dempsey said that disagreement with Russia over Syria did not mean there > could not be collaboration elsewhere. “It’s easy to point out the friction > points among nations, whether it’s Russia or China,” he said, “but there’s > also plenty of places where we have common interests, and Afghanistan just > happens to be one of those with Russia.”**** > > Moran questioned what he called “at best, a mixed signal we’re sending to > the Russians. We really don’t want them selling arms to Syria, but we’re > going to keep buying arms from them anyway,” he said. “We ought to be able > to walk and chew gum at the same time. . . . It doesn’t seem to be asking > too much to have a coordinated policy here.” **** > > ** ** > > > __._,_.___ > > > > > > > __,_._,___ > > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- brine http://brineb.blogspot.com/ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
