Forest or Desert

Afghanistan is not exactly a forest dreamland. Only 2.1 percent of the country’s total land area is covered with forest, the rest is mainly desert. Yet, we spent $94,000,000 to buy “woodland pattern” uniforms for the Afghan National Army. We could have supplied regular uniforms for free, but the Afghan defense minister liked the pattern. The fellow, Dr. Tim O'Neill, who created the camouflage pattern which served as the basis for the Army Combat Uniform, says, "DESERT DESIGNS DON’T WORK WELL IN WOODLAND AREAS AND WOODLAND PATTERNS PERFORM POORLY IN THE DESERT." Changing the uniforms used by Afghan troops “could save U.S. taxpayers between $68.61 million and $72.21 million over the next 10 years,” the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan says.

While there is not much news about Afghanistan, we are spending $3.1 billion a month there. Firther, we have committed $66 billion to equipping and supporting Afghan security forces, supplying them with fuel, ammunition and weapons to fight Taliban insurgents.