Dudes, $300 million of awesome!

When you put people in charge of government who operate on the philosophy that government is essentially not a good thing, you should not be surprised if they govern poorly. They cannot even wrap their minds around the concept of government serving the people in any effective, competent, efficient, or desirable manner. They might view government as a means of channeling wealth from the masses into the hands of their allies. We call that a kleptocracy. But there is no motivation to make government actually work, to exhibit competence or integrity. Well, I'm rambling, so let's cut to the news:

David Kurtz at TPM writes:

Need a supply of mid-20th century Chinese ammo? Maybe some old Eastern Bloc munitions? Then has the Pentagon got a contractor for you: a couple of 20-something dudes in S. Florida who were the main supplier to Afghanistan’s army and police force -- until the NYT started asking questions.

Paul Kiel, also at TPM shares info from the lengthy work by the New York Times:

How does a 22 year-old get a multi-million dollar defense contract? you ask. “AEY’s proposal represented the best value to the government," the Army tells the Times. (Never mind that AEY was headed by a guy who'd been busted by the police for carrying a fake ID.)

AEY's fattest contract came in January of last year, when a Pentagon contract made AEY, "which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach,... the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces." AEY's VP is 25 and a licensed masseur. AEY also had a $5.7 million contract for rifles for Iraqi forces, among others.

These guys delivered decades-old, often useless, ammo from sundry Eastern bloc countries and China. Not much use to our Afghan allies, but hey, why should the Pentagon pay attention to where and how taxpayer dollars are spent during wartime? Right? It's not like lives are at stake or anything.

Ammunition supplied by an American contractor to Afghan forces. Some of it was in such poor shape that it was not used. (NYT photo)

Now, if you click on the links you will see that this is one seriously sleazy story on every imaginable level.

I have worked for the federal government. The amount of tracking on every imaginable level is overwhelming. So how do we let things like this just slip through?

The NYT article notes:

Several officials said the problems would have been avoided if the Army had written contracts and examined bidders more carefully.

Indeed.
--the BB

Thank God some local media bother to notice

It is making the rounds in blogtopia (™ skippy the bush kangaroo) but I wonder if the MSM will pick up on this. They should. It is a frigging scandal of major proportion.

KDKA in Pittsburgh brings us the story. In short:

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

So, you sign up, you serve, you suffer some devastating injury, and the Pentagon wants its bonus back. Sorry about that lost limb, brain damage, PTSD, your lost job, ruined marriage, and impending homelessness but we think you should return the money your family has already spent to survive.

Excuse the fuck out of me but some general's head, or several, should be rolling right out the Pentagon's front door right now.

A signing bonus is for signing, not for surviving long enough to serve. I should think the troops have sacrificed enough in their own body not to have this obscene outrage perpetrated upon them. I want this story blazoned across the front page of every newspaper in America. Be sure to tell at least ten people about this.

God help us to do right by those who sacrifice for the United States Constitution. Yes, that's what their oath is about too.

UPDATE: The original local case the KDKA was reporting on has seen the Pentagon backpedal. There are no promises regarding other cases, however. Meanwhile, Freshman Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire has introduced legislation to undo any policy of demanding bonuses back when troops are injured. More power to him as we need to rein in such abuses. [Thanks to Daily Kos for the update.] Keep spreading the word and bringing pressure to bear on our government to do the right thing--in this and all the rest. Power to the People!
--the BB