Afghanistan Waste: The DEA's $86M Afghanistan Counter-Drug Plane That Has Never Flown

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ATR 500 aircraft sits in a Department of Defense subcontractor facility in Afghanistan, in this handout image taken in April 2015 and provided to Reuters on March 30, 2016. REUTERS/COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

Reuters: U.S. anti-drug plane for Afghanistan still flightless after $86 million: report

The U.S. government spent $86 million over seven years developing a counter-narcotics surveillance aircraft for Afghanistan, but the plane has never carried out a mission and is sitting idle in Delaware, a watchdog said on Wednesday.

After years of war in Afghanistan, a global hub of opium and hashish production, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had until now largely avoided criticism for questionable spending of the sort leveled widely against the U.S. military.

But Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a report that an aircraft purchased by the DEA and modified with tens of millions of Defense Department dollars missed every delivery deadline and remained inoperable.

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More News On The DEA's $86M Afghanistan Counter-Drug Plane That Has Never Flown

Watchdog: DEA's $86M Afghanistan counter-drug plane still 'resting on jacks' -- FOX News
Watchdog report: $86 million counternarcotics plane never flown -- The Hill
$86 million aircraft to combat drugs in Afghanistan doesn't take off -- CNN
U.S. Spent $86 Million on Antidrug Plane That Never Flew a Mission -- WSJ
DEA drug fighting plane doesn’t fly, but costs soar -- Washington Post
How the Government Spent $86 Million for a Plane That Hasn’t Flown -- Fiscal Times
$86m US counter-narcotics plane intended for Afghanistan missions is still grounded -- Khaama Press

The Drug-Terrorist Link Means Wars Can Last Indefinitely

From Counter Terrorism Blog:

The Brits are finally willing to lay out some of the truths about the war in Afghanistan, truths that apply in many other parts of the world, in a pattern that we continue to see growing.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a confidential report to the prime minister concludes that the drug trade will prolong the Taliban insurgency idenfinitely:

"Growing links between the drugs trade and the insurgency in the South will provide longevity to the Taliban," the UK document says. "In the south, the drugs trade is fuelling the insurgency."

It adds: "This is compounded by government corruption. Karzai chooses to avoid rocking the boat with powerful narco figures and has not blocked their appointment as governors or other senior officials."

In turn, Mr Karzai's failure to tackle corruption and the drug lords "only increases popular disillusion," further boosting the insurgency, the paper says.

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Previous Post: World's Biggest Drug Seizure In Afghanistan

My Comment: As I had posted earlier in the day, the Taliban clearly receives a good portion of its funds from the drug trade. The unwillingness to fight this trade and the corruption that it spawns means that Nato will never be able to get a handle on the insurgency for a very long time. I doubt that it is in the mindset of many in the west that their soldiers will be stuck in Afghanistan for the next 30 years.

If there is no frontal assault on this trade, and the eradication of the poppy and marijuana fields that produce the drugs that the Taliban need to grow .... the west will lose this war.