Warning: Here are three stories that will make you grind your teeth …
#1) War was good business for David H. Brooks, founder and former chief of body armor manufacturer DHB. But now he’s on trial for fraud after it was discovered that he was using all that Pentagon cash to buy porn for his son, plastic surgery for his wife, a stable of racehorses as well as some serious bling including a ruby-and-diamond-encrusted belt buckle. Oh, and there’s the prostitutes he hired for company employees to raise their morale.
#2) We give billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan. Pakistan’s intelligence service turns around and funnels huge wads of cash to the Taliban, and al Qaeda, and then works with al Qaeda to coordinate attacks. So, essentially, you’re paying tax dollars to attack our troops in Afghanistan. As the New York Times reports …
The documents, to be made available by an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders.[...]
Some of the reports describe Pakistani intelligence working alongside Al Qaeda to plan attacks. Experts cautioned that although Pakistan’s militant groups and Al Qaeda work together, directly linking the Pakistani spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, with Al Qaeda is difficult. [...]
The man the United States has depended on for cooperation in fighting the militants and who holds most power in Pakistan, the head of the army, Gen. Parvez Ashfaq Kayani, ran the ISI from 2004 to 2007, a period from which many of the reports are drawn. American officials have frequently praised General Kayani for what they say are his efforts to purge the military of officers with ties to militants.
Non-military aid alone to Pakistan is $1.5 billion a year. Military aid is billions of dollars annually, and India worries they’ll be the next to be attacked. I can’t say I blame them.
#3) News accounts from London say BP took a pretax provision of $32.2 billion for capping, clean up and damage claims payments leaving a $10 billion credit for U.S. taxpayers to eat. Remember that $20 billion fund BP is setting up to pay for damages in the Gulf? Well, since they’ve written $10 billion off their U.S. taxes, essentially you’re paying for half the cleanup fund.
Related Posts
- China Sovereign Fund Dumps Dollars for Gold and Oil (09/11/09)
- John Stewart: Mineral-Rich Afghanistan Is So Screwed (06/16/10)
- Did Goldman Sachs Pick Your Pocket? (06/30/10)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
1. David H Brooks sounds like the coolest guy on earth. I wish he was my father/employer.
2. I heard those “wikileaks” stories are false plants. Do you know otherwise for a fact or are you just reprinting unverified gossip (yet again)?
Hi, Gary. If the Wikileaks stories are “false plants”, why are all the usual talking heads saying there’s nothing new in the leak?
Anderson Cooper calls it “an epic yawn fest”. He adds: “There seems to be a general consensus that this is much ado about nothing.”http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/27/opinion-wikileaks-an-epic-yawn-fest/
Tom Ricks says: “A huge leak of U.S. reports and this is all they get? I know of more stuff leaked at one good dinner on background”
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/07/26/wikileaks_this_is_it_by_tom_ricks
And Hot Air says “Even the New York Times has trouble dressing up the reports as anything new or remarkable”
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/26/wikileaks-document-dump-exposes-what-everyone-knows-about-af-pak-war/
Meanwhile, one Fox commentator after another has paraded up to say that the Wikileaks details on Afghanistan and Pakistan aren’t news. But you know what NONE of them say? None of them say this stuff is false. And that’s because it’s true.
My take: Our ruling class may think the fact that WE are underwriting al Qaeda’s attacks on our troops is nothing new, but it is news to me, and I think news to many Americans. I think our tax dollars can be better spent.
And where did you hear that Wikileaks is false plants? Sounds to me like you’re listening too closely to someone who repeats unverified gossip.
Gary Paul:
Yet again is a big word for you buddy!
Sean is one of the maverick analysts out there and i strongly recommend a poopo on any kakalaka who isn’y civilised when to making comments about any of the analysts on this site.
I do think politics and wars are fixed,whether it’s any government or terrorist group,there’ll be always some hidden interest funding the game for profit.
But I wouldn’t use the word “Yet again” when you don’t know in what context to put it.You sound like one of Sigmund Freud’s victims,symptoms of brainwash=retard.
The contributors to uncommonwisdom are the a few of the best analysts out there.
If you could ever match up to their intellect,that’ll be a sight.
Hi man,
your math is badly wrong. BP is loosing revenue but they are paying to companies and individual who are doing all cleanups. So the tax revenue any way is coming to IRS.
Even better because most of income tax BP were paying to UK. Clean up operation and done by Americans so more money will go to US.
I’m wondering how a Private 1st Class managed to get ahold of such highly classified documents to begin with. This private is a green horn (so to speak) and supposedly outflanked high security measures. I smell something fishy going on here. Is it possible that he is being used as a scapegoat? How did he manage to get those documents in the hands of the wrong people without risking his life? I’m a betting we’ll never hear the whole story on this one. A private in the sevice is under tight scutiny to begin with. With all the crap we been hearing lately I’m kind’a sceptical of anything we get out of the mainstream media.
Sean,
I received a mailing pushing Amarok Resources (AMOK) claiming that it is a potential buyout
by Barrick Gold. Have you heard of this or is this just hype?