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They got to feed their industrial machine. That money re-entered the American and Global economies in ways that non-warfare economies could never provide. It w

by jbob2000 7y ago

They got to feed their industrial machine. That money re-entered the American and Global economies in ways that non-warfare economies could never provide. It was never about making the country peaceful or stopping al qaeda (though I’m sure there were realpolitik reasons, such as staving off Russian influence).

stanski 7y ago
Came here to say exactly this. Trying to quantify any positive effects on the country itself is completely pointless. It was never about helping Afghans. Mission accomplished.
jjcc 7y ago
I think both Bush and Obama administration had the intention to destroy terrorists. Otherwise why they kill Bean Ladden? The real problem is they along with all Western society make the situation worse by misunderstanding the human nature just like most doctors treat cancer by cutting a tumor without knowing more cancer will grow faster. Western countries collectively do the same thing again and again in Iraq, Libya, Syria (these are obvious list) and .... edit:fix typo
rhacker 7y ago
Raytheon, etc.. charge a $90MM for a complex project. They then pay the salaries of 100 people for 3 years for a total cost of $30MM. Where did the other $60M go? Raytheon top executives. To Recap: that $90MM mostly came from the 99% and 60% of it is now permanently in the hands of the 1%. We definitely don't have a modern day Robin Hood.
- wombatpm 7y ago
  Overhead. You have the salary of the people who do the work. Then the salary of the people who do the oversight, management, accounting, project management, training, compliance etc. So your $30MM in costs + $60MM in overhead (ie 200% which is sadly typical) and you are not even counting the %7 profit that can be baked in on top of the overhead numbers.
  - rhacker 7y ago
    Exactly, top management. With 100 engineers, that's probably going to max out at about 20 managers. The other categories you mentioned doesn't take more than one or two people per category. That still doesn't account for 60% - (7% Profit) for about 25 people.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- sdinsn 7y ago
  > that $90MM mostly came from the 99% Is that really surprising? The 1% still pays ~38% of taxes by the way. > We definitely don't have a modern day Robin Hood. And we shouldn't. Stealing from the rich is still stealing.
  - Sohcahtoa82 7y ago
    > The 1% still pays ~38% of taxes by the way. They also have 40% of the wealth, so I think that's pretty reasonable.
  - rhacker 7y ago
    > And we shouldn't. Stealing from the rich is still stealing. I was speaking of "modern day Robin Hood" as a concept. It is implemented via taxes, but this whole example shows how flawed it is. Also who are you? the Robin Hood story characterizes Robin Hood as the hero because the rich were taking money in bad and terrorizing ways. If you want to take my robin hood concept literally, then take my example of the rich implementing programs and policies as literally terrorizing too.
    - sdinsn 7y ago
      > It is implemented via taxes The purpose of taxes isn't to take from the rich and give to the poor. > Also who are you? Huh? I'm nobody, why are you asking?

stanski 7y ago

Came here to say exactly this. Trying to quantify any positive effects on the country itself is completely pointless. It was never about helping Afghans. Mission accomplished.

jjcc 7y ago

I think both Bush and Obama administration had the intention to destroy terrorists. Otherwise why they kill Bean Ladden? The real problem is they along with all Western society make the situation worse by misunderstanding the human nature just like most doctors treat cancer by cutting a tumor without knowing more cancer will grow faster. Western countries collectively do the same thing again and again in Iraq, Libya, Syria (these are obvious list) and .... edit:fix typo

rhacker 7y ago

Raytheon, etc.. charge a $90MM for a complex project. They then pay the salaries of 100 people for 3 years for a total cost of $30MM. Where did the other $60M go? Raytheon top executives. To Recap: that $90MM mostly came from the 99% and 60% of it is now permanently in the hands of the 1%. We definitely don't have a modern day Robin Hood.

wombatpm 7y ago
Overhead. You have the salary of the people who do the work. Then the salary of the people who do the oversight, management, accounting, project management, training, compliance etc. So your $30MM in costs + $60MM in overhead (ie 200% which is sadly typical) and you are not even counting the %7 profit that can be baked in on top of the overhead numbers.
- rhacker 7y ago
  Exactly, top management. With 100 engineers, that's probably going to max out at about 20 managers. The other categories you mentioned doesn't take more than one or two people per category. That still doesn't account for 60% - (7% Profit) for about 25 people.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
sdinsn 7y ago
> that $90MM mostly came from the 99% Is that really surprising? The 1% still pays ~38% of taxes by the way. > We definitely don't have a modern day Robin Hood. And we shouldn't. Stealing from the rich is still stealing.
- Sohcahtoa82 7y ago
  > The 1% still pays ~38% of taxes by the way. They also have 40% of the wealth, so I think that's pretty reasonable.
- rhacker 7y ago
  > And we shouldn't. Stealing from the rich is still stealing. I was speaking of "modern day Robin Hood" as a concept. It is implemented via taxes, but this whole example shows how flawed it is. Also who are you? the Robin Hood story characterizes Robin Hood as the hero because the rich were taking money in bad and terrorizing ways. If you want to take my robin hood concept literally, then take my example of the rich implementing programs and policies as literally terrorizing too.
  - sdinsn 7y ago
    > It is implemented via taxes The purpose of taxes isn't to take from the rich and give to the poor. > Also who are you? Huh? I'm nobody, why are you asking?