the difference between power and electricity

October 8, 2011 12:33 PM

The failure to fix electricity infrastructure in Afghanistan. IEEE Spectrum published a damning investigation into the ongoing incompetence, corruption, and waste of the USAID and its murky cost-plus contracts, some 'so vague that it did not require the contractor to provide "specific deliverables with concrete delivery dates."' [from here] Not surprisingly, they spend a lot of money. previously
posted by thandal (5 comments total)

First the Soviet Union, now the USA; every nation that has come to "aid" Afghanistan seems to have brought along the ambition to outdo their predecessor in the plundering department. No doubt the Talibans will become a major power factor again and things will go back to what they were. Poor Afghanis, poor poor Afghanis.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:01 PM on October 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

the ambition to outdo their predecessor in the plundering department

Afghanistan and other intractable messes are the hobby-horses of the military business. They are perpetuated solely for the interests and benefit of the government contractors profiting from them. The rationale for involvement is like the paperless office to an IT guy, it can always be invoked in order to buy a better scanner, or printer, or file server, or upgrade, or just about anything.

That said, how do I get aboard this no-deliverables gravy train?
posted by rhizome at 1:46 PM on October 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Didn't you hear? America is low on gravy, so we're moving all the gravy to the front of the train and decoupling the passenger cars one by one, cheapest seats first. Enjoy the dwindling inertia and small puddles of gravy you've got left
posted by crayz at 2:36 PM on October 8, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wow! Credit to IEEE, not normally known for their investigative journalism! Still, if ABC/CBS/CNN/NY Times aren't doing much of it lately (too busy snapping up sound bites from R contenders, I guess)... somebody's got to.

Next up: "This Old House" exposes safety issues at the Lincoln Memorial, and Plumber's Local 551 issues findings on their 5-year study of pharmaceutical fraud via sewage samples at Children's Mercy Hospital.
posted by IAmBroom at 5:04 PM on October 8, 2011 [3 favorites]

I'm just getting too cynical in my late midde age... the goal was NOT to fix anything at all, it was to provide a way to issue lucrative government contracts to enrich themselves and their friends.

I think I need to go live in a cave somewhere.
posted by Cats' Concert at 4:23 PM on October 10, 2011 [1 favorite]