News Pentagon Can't Account for $1trillion in equipment

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The discussion centers around the U.S. military's significant inventory discrepancies, with reports of 32 missing tanks, 56 planes, and a staggering total of about one trillion dollars in unaccounted expenses. Participants express skepticism about the reliability of government oversight, drawing parallels between the U.S. military's issues and accusations against Iraq for failing to account for its weapons. Concerns are raised about potential corruption, with suggestions that military equipment could be misappropriated or double-billed, and that bureaucratic inefficiencies may contribute to the problem. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of government spending, with some participants questioning the accountability of military expenditures compared to social programs, highlighting a perceived hypocrisy in conservative support for military expansion amidst allegations of waste and mismanagement. The possibility of systematic financial misconduct, including money laundering related to military operations, is also discussed, reflecting a deep distrust in governmental financial practices.
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http://shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=30381&rubrik1=Politics&rubrik2=US%20Politics&rubrik3=All&sort=1&sparte=4

The Army is missing 32 tanks, 56 planes, and other things. Total nonaccounted-for expenses are about a trillion $$.
 
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And we attack Iraq for not accounting for their weapons?
 
Originally posted by Zero
And we attack Iraq for not accounting for their weapons?

Hahaha. One of many easily made good points. Doesn't take much to turn the USGov into ruins.
 
I know for a fact that a lot of that stuff winds up in people's houses...neat, isn't it?
 
ZERO - perhaps the path is GOV to EBAY to HOUSES.

I know someone who has some of it too.
 
Originally posted by LogicalAtheist
ZERO - perhaps the path is GOV to EBAY to HOUSES.

I know someone who has some of it too.

No, its a pretty direct path...someone juggles a few pieces of paper in a supply shop, and they drive home in a Hummer loaded with rifles.


Think I'm kidding? I worked with a guy who was busted a few weeks before retirement with something like $250,000 worth of stolen military gear in his house. He had gotten away with it for probably about a decade, but he got greedy at the end.
 
The Army is missing 32 tanks, 56 planes, and other things. Total nonaccounted-for expenses are about a trillion $$.
Wow, that's very shocking! Is that news source reliable?
 
Originally posted by schwarzchildradius
Wow, that's very shocking! Is that news source reliable?
Schwarz et al - Not sure if you're an American. But, heh being one nothing about our government suprises me anymore.

Missing money, stolen this, no biggie. I'd put nothing past the USA GOV. I mean, I wouldn't put anything past any government. It's just the nature of a government, there is no power above them (except maybe the UN) and so they have no real incentive to do anything in particular.
 
Check out the link (shortnews rocks!). It posts a link to its source, the San Francisco Gate.
 
  • #10
Well, I remember reading a few years ago that the Navy's inventory was so screwed up, it couldn't even be audited...
 
  • #11
The one good thing about Australia's military: it's so small that we only have to keep track of three tug-boats and four jeeps.
 
  • #12
The Pentagon couldn't "lose" half a hundred planes and all that other big stuff. Their forte since the nuclear age has been to build secret underground bases. They just tell the auditors that they misplaced a bunch of equipment so they don't have to reveal that they have a few more secret bases underground than people suspect.
 
  • #13
Originally posted by John MacNeil
The Pentagon couldn't "lose" half a hundred planes and all that other big stuff. Their forte since the nuclear age has been to build secret underground bases. They just tell the auditors that they misplaced a bunch of equipment so they don't have to reveal that they have a few more secret bases underground than people suspect.

Don't bet on that, either...what is most likely is that they were double-billed for a lot of that equipment, or it somehow was assigned on paper to two different units.
 
  • #14
There is always that possibility, but a trillion dollar worth of double billing would blow the Worldcom scam out of the record books, and that doesn't sound too likely. The military is huge and they don't mind throwing money around, but they are also a governing body unto themselves. They don't change with the political parties at elections and I'm sure they have a steady agenda that supercedes civilian prerequistes. They may pay lip service to civilain oversight, but when it comes to building something they want, they're going to do it. And one thing they want is secret bases underground that are command and control centers in case of a thermonuclear attack. They don't divulge all the specifics about such programs to elected civilians because the elected officials could be out of office the very next election and then they'd be walking around civvie street with top secret information.
 
  • #15
Originally posted by John MacNeil
There is always that possibility, but a trillion dollar worth of double billing would blow the Worldcom scam out of the record books, and that doesn't sound too likely. The military is huge and they don't mind throwing money around, but they are also a governing body unto themselves. They don't change with the political parties at elections and I'm sure they have a steady agenda that supercedes civilian prerequistes. They may pay lip service to civilain oversight, but when it comes to building something they want, they're going to do it. And one thing they want is secret bases underground that are command and control centers in case of a thermonuclear attack. They don't divulge all the specifics about such programs to elected civilians because the elected officials could be out of office the very next election and then they'd be walking around civvie street with top secret information.

Well, yes..but then again when the same politicians are on the board, or their fathers, or wives, or brothers..are on the board or involved in those very same companies that provide the military hardware...their agendas are very probably...the same..eh?
 
  • #16
John, isn't that what the NORAD HQ is -- a giant underground 3C complex in case of thermonuclear attack? Prob it's what Zero said, somebody forgot to fill out forms or some crap and now they have to follow the paper trail...
 
  • #17
Originally posted by damgo
John, isn't that what the NORAD HQ is -- a giant underground 3C complex in case of thermonuclear attack? Prob it's what Zero said, somebody forgot to fill out forms or some crap and now they have to follow the paper trail...

Again, I've seen it happen...someone transfers a vehicle to another unit, but forgets to take it off his own inventory.
 
  • #18
Originally posted by damgo
John, isn't that what the NORAD HQ is -- a giant underground 3C complex in case of thermonuclear attack? Prob it's what Zero said, somebody forgot to fill out forms or some crap and now they have to follow the paper trail...

Do they? Who is it who looks at the CIA's papers to see if they're honest?

Would president bush assist, or support a senator (or someone else in the gov) who said the CIA needed to be investigated for "cooking the books"?
 
  • #19
just so you all know, "unaccounted" for does not neccesarily mean "missing"... its paperwork people, it doesn't neccesarily mean that they have been stolen or lossed or anything like that...

and if you people want to put eartags on everything and bottleneck the whole arms race then we might not be here today :smile: just a thought...
 
  • #20
Originally posted by Mattius_
just so you all know, "unaccounted" for does not neccesarily mean "missing"... its paperwork people, it doesn't neccesarily mean that they have been stolen or lossed or anything like that...

and if you people want to put eartags on everything and bottleneck the whole arms race then we might not be here today :smile: just a thought...

Maybe bottlenecking the arms race would have been a good idea? I mean, after you can single-handedly destroy 4 Earths, you should be able to call it quits, right?

But, yeah, I agree that this is most likely a clerical problem.
 
  • #21
im not saying the arms race wasnt absurd i am just saying that I am times of stress paperwork is overlooked for good reason...
 
  • #22
Originally posted by Mattius_
im not saying the arms race wasnt absurd i am just saying that I am times of stress paperwork is overlooked for good reason...

I get ya! Thanks for clearing that up.
 
  • #23
Hmmm...not to be a thorn in anyone's side...

Isn't it ironic that the only government program that 'conservatives' support expaning is gulty of exactly teh kind of waste, fraud, and mismanagement that they accuse socail programs of? Just an observation...
 
  • #24
hence the lieing, cheating, and stealing circle of life...
 
  • #25
Originally posted by Mattius_
hence the lieing, cheating, and stealing circle of life...
...which makes me wonder how much of that missing trillion would happen to be tucked in a campaign contributor's offshore account?
 
  • #26
well where else are they going to get money for a new ivory back scratcher..
 
  • #27
...which makes me wonder how much of that missing trillion would happen to be tucked in a campaign contributor's offshore account?
that is a nail-biter, eh? Something this big is not likely to be the sum of random events, given the scale of operations in Iraq. It could also be a systematic money-laundering scheme because the bill for Iraq was way bigger than they could admit publicly.
 
  • #28
Originally posted by schwarzchildradius
that is a nail-biter, eh? Something this big is not likely to be the sum of random events, given the scale of operations in Iraq. It could also be a systematic money-laundering scheme because the bill for Iraq was way bigger than they could admit publicly.

The trilion went to fund some deep-black ufos. Nothing wrong with that... its a response.

Now, go back to sleep.
 
  • #29
Originally posted by Zero
Hmmm...not to be a thorn in anyone's side...

Isn't it ironic that the only government program that 'conservatives' support expaning is gulty of exactly teh kind of waste, fraud, and mismanagement that they accuse socail programs of? Just an observation...
It is after all run by the government, Zero.
 
  • #30
Wow.
How disconcerting.

So what are the exact finacial situations in Russia?
France?
Germany?
Mexico?




He who throws stones, brother, ...
 
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  • #31
Originally posted by Ganshauk
Wow.
How disconcerting.

So what are the exact finacial situations in Russia?
France?
Germany?
Mexico?

"Flip, Flop" goes the red herring.
 

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