Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer

Activist Post

After the recent skirmish with Pakistani troops on the Afghan-Pakistani border which left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead, the most critical supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan were blocked off.

This attack brought with it some significant problems, not the least of which is additional strain on the already weak Pakistani-American relations.

Aside from the significant diplomatic stresses, which have materialized in the form of Pakistan giving their troops permission to return fire without first acquiring authorization, the impact on the cost of the unnecessary war in Afghanistan has been considerable.

Thanks to the supply routes being closed off, the military now has to fly in every single barrel of fuel to troops in Afghanistan.

Not only does this take a considerably skilled pilot and perfect timing, it also costs up to $400 for every single gallon of fuel, according to estimates provided by the military, which would mean each 55 gallon barrel would cost up to $22,000.

Speaking before a recent mission to provide a base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with supplies Captain Zack Albaugh, a California Air National Guard pilot with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, pointed out that the process is far from efficient.

“We’re going to burn a lot of gas to drop a lot of gas,” Capt. Albaugh told the Wall Street Journal.

During a meeting over the Afghan imbroglio in Bonn, Germany, this major problem and an appeal from Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai for continued international aid were discussed.

Karzai is seeking a continuation of international funding well after coalition troops are supposed to withdraw in 2014.

A major fact which the establishment media chronically fails to point out is that the 2014 withdrawal date is far from concrete and the chances of it being met are slim to none.

Earlier this month I covered how a spokesperson for the Afghan loya jirga revealed that Washington wanted a total media blackout over the conditions being set in the new long-term deal with Afghanistan.

It quickly became clear that despite the many calls to end the occupation of Afghanistan and the popular opinion of Afghanis which paints coalition troops as an occupying force that is only making matters worse, Karzai is far more interested in continuing the occupation.

This extended presence is especially troubling when one considers the fact that it will only become increasingly more expensive with every month that passes with no progress whatsoever.

Not to mention the fact that our presence in Afghanistan only makes the West more hated for being an occupying force that invades under the guise of fighting terrorism and supporting freedom only to increase terrorism while eroding freedom domestically.

Almost 100,000 American soldiers are on the ground in Afghanistan and many of them are stationed in locations so remote that the only way supplies can be delivered is by parachute from a cargo plane.

The amount of air-dropped supplies by the Air Force has increased by almost 50 times since 2005 and it is only going to rise after the incident with Pakistan and the closed border crossings.

The Pentagon is currently trying to develop alternative fuels like biofuels and even solar- and wind-powered bases, which is yet another indication that the war machine sees no end in sight and is thus planning for the future.

After all, when sociopathic war profiteers infect our political system, one can only expect that perpetual war with an ever-expanding front is the goal.

In spite of the fact that our government is broke to the point of absurdity and stuck in a black hole of debt, our military seems hell bent on continuing hostilities in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

This was exemplified in the above-linked Wall Street Journal article when Lieutenant Colonel Bill Wilson, commander of the squadron responsible for the air drops, brushed off the loss of supplies when two parachutes failed to open completely by saying, “That’s the cost of doing business.”

I don’t think that Lt. Col. Wilson knows exactly how revealing his statement was. It cuts to the core of the twisted mentality that has allowed us to go from a once-prosperous nation to an overstretched empire that is in the process of slow collapse.

Killing other human beings should not be a business that the nation which once had “soft power” should be engaging in.

Unfortunately, this “business” of slaughtering innocent people under the guise of humanitarianism, freedom and the spread of democracy, has become one of the staples of the American imperialist empire.

$400 per barrel of fuel just exemplifies the fact that we can no longer sustain this perpetual war machine that fails to make an inch of progress while demanding more in terms of human sacrifice and hijacked capital with every day that passes.

The Wall Street Journal’s treatment of this story perfectly outlines how the Western establishment media supports this horrendous system.

Instead of pointing out the absurdity of spending $400 on every barrel of fuel while record numbers of Americans are impoverished, they make it seem like this is somehow glamorous.

They quote Major Richard Carter, a C-17 pilot, on a recent cargo flight to Afghanistan as saying, “If you want us to drop something on a postage stamp, by God we’ll do it.”

They choose to close the article with this tidbit from Maj. Carter as if it is somehow supposed to make us walk away saying, “Well, at least our soldiers are good at flushing trillions of dollars down the drain while terrorizing an entire region and brutally slaughtering innocent people!”

Hopefully more people are seeing through the spin and fluff, and instead of taking away some kind of heartwarming story about how good soldiers are at dropping stuff, they are seeing the absolute insanity of what we are doing and will likely continue to do for the indefinite future.

This article first appeared at End the Lie

Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]