On October 6, Flynn’s unit approved use of HIMARS, B-1, and A-10s to drop 49,200 lbs. of ordnance on the Taliban tactical base [read: village] of Tarok Kalache… In the coming days, the villagers will be compensated and meet with local contractors approved by the district governor to begin rebuilding the homes.
••• Flattening people’s homes creates reconstruction jobs in Afghanistan. Now, this might seem abhorrent, but “what would become of the glaziers if panes of glass were never broken?”
Kabul’s luxury Serena Hotel is one of the more swanky sanctuaries in the Afghan capital.… For five months last year, the Serena also served as the headquarters for an American contracting company with no previous experience in Afghanistan that is being paid $15 million by USAID to revamp Afghanistan’s archaic judicial system and convince Afghans that they can trust their government…
The Tetra Tech DPK consultants burned through $300,000 for five months of housing at the Serena Hotel while they waited for their permanent compound to be done.
••• Gee, why don’t people trust the government?[rssless][visitor]
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In September, a group of 40 scientists, government officials, human-rights lawyers and military personnel gathered in Berlin for the first conference of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.
••• Popular Science lays out “The Terminator Scenario.”
British engineers have agreed a deal with a major US defence contractor to build large “optionally manned” robot surveillance ships. … HAV is the latest in a long line of British companies that have looked at ways to revive the use of large airships, such as the World War I zeppelin bombers, after they astonished the world in the 1930s.
••• A UK company gets a piece of a $517 million Northrop Grumman contract to build robot surveillance blimps for the US military.
As head of UK Trade & Investment, Lord Green will help UK firms to export abroad and promote inward investment. As part of this role, he will support UKTI Defence and Security Organisation…
••• More UKTI news: A confirmation, of sorts, inre: this item.
True, Lockheed Martin doesn’t actually run the U.S. government, but sometimes it seems as if it might as well. … [N]o weapons contractor has more power or money to wield to defend its turf.
••• More from Bill Hartung’s new book at TomDispatch.
[A] Pentagon spokeswoman…referred the question of whether the U.S. is “ready” to sell the arms to Georgia to the State Department.
The State Department had earlier referred a query to the Pentagon.
••• The Washington Post fails to clarify matters.
In addition to their forced labor, the men were also used as human minesweepers…
••• What happens in a fully militarized economy.