As Bob noted, the U. S. military lost 190,000 weapons in Iraq.  But that’s not all.  Last month, surplus F-14 parts were intercepted on their way to Malaysia, after which they would have been headed for Iran.

But don’t worry, the military has a solution to this problem of inventory control: destroy the inventory.  This includes not only sensitive inventory, like weapons and F-14 parts, but routine items as well.  My local surplus dealer advised today that the military will no longer be selling old ammo cans (excellent water-tight storage!), uniforms, or sleeping bags.  Several sources, including military.com, confirm this: the new Pentagon policy is, if it’s not being used, destroy it.  What an interesting accounting technique!

Here’s a real irony: in the past, as its needs changed, the Pentagon often bought back items it had sold as surplus.  Now it will have to buy them all new.  What an unexpected windfall for suppliers to the military, to have the opportunity to replace (at a substantial profit) perfectly usable goods that the Pentagon destroyed rather than warehouse!  And you thought war was good for “absolutely nothing.”

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Jim Kunstler, writing on Monday.

One can only imagine the number of cell phone minutes racked up this weekend out in the Hamptons by players trying desperately to finagle their way out of the brutal fact that their firms and funds suddenly lay exposed to the cruel ravages of reality. A lot of catered crab tidbits and mini-quiches must have gone uneaten out along the dunes as weeping men in blazers realized that “marked to market” had come to mean the same thing as “holding a bundle of shit.”

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A survey of Russian youth found them to be strongly anti-American, a view encouraged and exploited by the government.

A primary reason for the anti-Americanism the study concludes, is “Bush administration counterterrorism policies.”

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(Above graphic from JustForeignPolicy)

Craig Murray on the “missing” 190,000 weapons.

The US seems much more concerned at having lost 190,000 weapons than at a multiple of that number in dead people losing their lives.

Those weapons are probably everywhere now, including in the hands of insurgents. It takes a very special type of corrupt incompetence to “lose” this many weapons.

You really do have to wonder how long this can go on. The brainwashing of key portions of the US population through the media and evangelical churches, and the crass appeal by shifty politicians to “Patriotism”, has held the line so far against all the evidence of the disaster this is for the US as a nation. But at some time the patience of the people must surely snap - I suspect leaving a timid Democrat leadership scuttling to keep up.

Well, it’s getting SO difficult for congressional Dems now. They have to continue to pretend to oppose the war while the vast majority of them actually support it. History will not be kind to them.

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Citrus peels

On another ethanol front, SusHI (Sustainability in Hawaii) asks, if ethanol starts getting produced in Hawaii in massive quantities, will there continue to be enough water for all?

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