Not that $12 billion cash isn't a lot of money, but just to put things in perspective, the US government was spending about $20 billion per year just on air con

Not that $12 billion cash isn't a lot of money, but just to put things in perspective, the US government was spending about $20 billion per year just on air conditioning: https://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-war-20b-in-air-conditioning https://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-... It turns out warfare is extremely expensive (see also: guns v. butter) and one of your line items is buying off local warlords.