So much was left in Afghanistan

Ken Zak, responded to one of my letters by writing; “I have read another letter by George Jung, and I must admit I am concerned by statements that I do not see supported by facts and/ or logic.” In addition, Ken writes; “Earlier, if my memory is correct, he cited a department of defense report that I believe surfaced Dec. 20 stating the $7-billion-plus of weaponry left in Afghanistan was not usable.”

The data in my previous letter regarding the equipment left in Afghanistan came from the Department of Defense’s Inspector General’s Office Report provided to the US Congress. The report states: “The condition of these items was unknown, and the long-term operability of the vehicles was likely to deteriorate without US contractor maintenance. The US military removed or destroyed nearly all major equipment used by US troops in Afghanistan.” Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and military analyst at the Lexington Institute, states; “In the absence of such specialists, much of it will run down due to wear and a lack of spare parts. US military equipment tends to require extensive support from technical specialists.”

In the 1960 movie “Wake Me When It’s Over” staring Ernie Kovacs, the soldiers on this forgotten island build a resort hotel using military abandoned surplus broken-down equipment and supplies along with a collection of junk as construction materials.

When the brass finds out, they investigate the use of the government’s own materials. They believe the materials are worth the original full value that the military paid for them. After the investigation, it was determined the items had little value due to the condition they were in. This is kind of the case with equipment left in Afghanistan.

In 1973, when the US withdrew from Vietnam under the Paris Peace Accord, we left over $5 billion worth of military equipment. In today’s dollars, when adjusted for inflation this would be approximately $33 billion. We vacated Vietnam under a Republican president, and nobody had concerns regarding all the equipment left behind.

Donald Trump said, “In addition to the obvious, all equipment should be demanded to be immediately returned to the US, and that includes every penny of the $85 billion it cost. If it is not handed back, we should either go in with unequivocal military force and get it, or at least bomb the hell out of it.” Go Donnie-Boy.

George Jung Antelope Acres