Who’s On First?
Another special ops (Navy Seal) US soldier was killed fighting against ISIS in Iraq. He was shot while fighting alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their battle north of Mosul. This is the third such Special Forces death since Obama announced the deployment of ‘an additional 200-250 ground troops’. While this might seem to some a small number, it’s senselessness is what is so pivoting.
You see, the same Peshmerga and Kurds fighting ISIS with the US are being bombed by our good friends in Turkey under the command of Erdogan, the same Erdogan who flooded Europe with over a million refugees and then demanded a return for Blackmail. But they aren’t just being bombed by Erdogan, they are being bombed by the Iraqi military – our other good friends. So, are our soldiers being killed by ISIS or Turkey?
But Turkey isn’t just blackmailing Europe, the US has succumbed as well; “In exchange for Turkish help, the United States has offered Ankara an aid package that includes $6 billion in grants and up to $20 billion in loan guarantees. But so far, Turkey has balked at the offer, demanding more than $30 billion in assistance, according to US sources.”
So while Europe has agreed to give Turkey upwards of $6 billion with a ‘pinky swear’ that they won’t let any more nasty refugees cross the border – as well as EU membership status whereby all citizens have free travel access… HELLO? The US has agreed to give them $20 billion in various forms of assistance with the promise not to kill anymore US soldiers while ethnically cleansing Kurds…
Meanwhile, Merkel is allowing the prosecution of a German comedian to go forward“in Germany” because Erdogan’s feelings were hurt by an insulting comment the comedian made in his routine…
Not a bad days take for Erdogan.
This coincides with a Parliament meeting in Turkey that erupted in an all out brawl with opposing sides punching and hitting, standing on tables, throwing bottles at each other and acting in a very “dignified” parliamentary manner… Gee we really can pick our friends. Sounds just like the Kiev brawls that regularly break out as officials go for the throat to ‘get their point across’. Another good buddy of ours.
After a healthy US backed coup in Ukraine that has sent the country spiraling into the worst nightmare it has seen in decades, the IMF has squandered $11 billion – for nothing. With a GDP of -$90 billion, a GDP growth rate of -12.5%, and a government whose salaries are apparently paid by …ta-da…the US- in a deal that was reached after the appointment of a new Governor, Michail Saaskashvili, the same Saaskashvili who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in his native Georgia for war crimes and criminal charges. All this coming after the pinky swear promise of Ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt that no more Ukrainians civilians will be killed and their property confiscated.
Because, apparently, We The People, agreed in 2015 to train and pay the government of Ukraine with taxpayer funds.
And how much ‘aid’ has been expended on Iraq and Afghanistan? According to a report issued by the Watson Group of Brown University, Iraq has cost about $61 billion and Afghanistan about $104 billion. But that doesn’t account for the fraud, corruption and waste: “US government investigators have found widespread corruption, waste, and fraud among US agencies and private contractors implementing aid programs. Projects were often carried out at exorbitant cost, despite serving small portions of the population. For example, a USAID-funded power plant will cost an estimated $280 million per year to run – more than a third of total government tax revenues – but provide electricity to just 2 percent of Afghans. The DynCorp company was unable to account for $1 billion in US funds it was given to train the Iraqi police.”
Anyone charged? Nah. Anyone arrested? Nah. Anyone fired? Nah. Just business as usual.
For those who don’t know, the DynCorp is a security company based out of Virginia that trains Afghanistan’s and Iraq’s police… They have been embroiled in a number of their own topsy turvydom allegations and lawsuits including:
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Ecuadorian lawsuit in which herbacide spraying resulted in significant civilian health crisis
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Alleged abuses in Columbia
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Conflict of Interest case in hiring by Veritas Capital Fund
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Sex with minors in Bosnia – and the selling of sex slaves
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Sex trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Unfair dismissal due to ‘whistleblowing
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Unregulated billing and misconduct in relation to Iraq
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Weak oversight that resulted in $2.5 billion of US funds wasted
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Hiring a 17 year old Afghan to ‘entertain and perform’ for them in Afghanistan
How many US ‘jobs’ were created? None. How much income was generated for profit companies? No one wants to know. How much taxpayers anted? Mucho moola.
So – Who’s On First?