The Taliban and Fluor...Equally Disgusting

This is a sad story but it does give some background and a sense of what it is like to be in Afghanistan as a girl or woman. This is also one of the reasons that I think we should stay in Afghanistan, not that I think that we are doing a good job. I think we had an opportunity to do a good job and then we went to Iraq (and some people want us to believe we went there to prevent the proliferation of WMD, don't think so).

Bottom line, if we pull up and leave the Taliban will regain their complete control over the lives of women in Afghanistan and that is not a good thing, particularly not for a country that had women politicians, doctors, professors...until the Taliban put an end to that. The linked article describes how crappy the warlords were (our prior abandonment of this country enabled a situation that encouraged the rising of "warlords" out of the mujaheddin) which led to the warm welcome of the Taliban, only to find out that they were just as crooked, violent, hateful and despicable.

It's not a good situation but think of this as well. Veterans experience unemployment at higher rates than non-veterans, we are in the midst of an economic crisis and extreme unemployment. If everyone comes home, where will they work? How will they put food on their tables? There are a great many reservists and National Guardsmen who actually volunteered to go (more than once in some cases) because they lost their jobs here. It's just a matter of reality.

Now, there are a great many people working for US military contractors in Afghanistan, these jobs could help us with our stateside unemployment rates but apparently it is cheaper to hire eastern Europeans. So, these contractors could help by encouraging the employment of Americans or...the government could quit giving these yahoos contracts and let the military do these jobs. Duh? Why is Fluor hiring Bosnians to work their dining facilities in Afghanistan when each branch of the military has freaking cooks? Now try to come up with a logical answer to that other than someone in Washington DC is hooking up a pal.

Enjoy this little excerpt about Fluor (from the Project on Government Oversight):

Ranking: 64
Fluor Corporation

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management. Fluor is a FORTUNE 500 company with revenues of $9.4 billion in 2004.

Federal Contract $: $1073.7m

Total Number of Instances: 24

Total Misconduct dollar amount: $ 198.4m

Yes, you are reading that right. Fluor has been cited in 24 instances of misconduct (ranging from Breach of Contract to Overcharging the Government) yet they continue to enjoy government contracts. How much money could we offset our deficit by if our government actually called in the monies owed by companies like Fluor?

The nasty reality of these government contracts is nearly as shitty as the Taliban.