Friday, January 07, 2011

$11.6-billion for Afghan security to be spent by US, NATO in 2011

The Washington Post reported on 6 January that a total of $11.6 billion will be spent by the US and the NATO this year to build up the security forces of Afghanistan.
It is the largest amount to be spent to date as pressure heightens to shift responsibility in fighting the Taliban from the US-led military to the local troops.
Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, NATO's commander for training mission in Kabul said that this and last year's budgets will sum up to approximately $20 billion--approximately the same for the last seven years' funding.
Among other things, the following have been purchased from the military security fund: four bomb-sniffing robots, 44 helicopters, 24,000 Ford Rangers, 74,000 handheld radios, and 108,000 9mm pistols.
The huge amount of taxpayers' money being poured in to Afghanistan was a response over the country's criticisms to the West that they had not provided the Afghan military sufficient weapons.
Afghan president spokesman Waheed Omer said last month that he agreed that time and effort had been spent training the Afghan forces.
The country's military received armored vehicles and arms like machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Afghanistan also requested for expensive and needless tanks, fighter jets for fighting low-tech Taliban insurgents.
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