Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), speaking Tuesday at a hearing of the US House Armed Services Committee, returned to a subject he has addressed many times \u2014 the US government\u2019s incredible waste of money and lives in Afghanistan. Providing one example to illustrate the \u201cboondoggles\u201d that permeate US activity in Afghanistan, Jones shed light on the six million dollars the US spent on a program involving importing \u201crare blonde Italian goats\u201d to Afghanistan. The pricey goats, Jones relates, may have then just been eaten instead of being used to boost the cashmere industry in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Jones, who is a Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Advisory Board member, further states that the goats boondoggle is one among many wastes of money in Afghanistan that John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, mentioned in January as a witness before a subcommittee of the US Senate Armed Services Committee. Jones expresses exasperation that the US may continue its presence, militarily and otherwise, in Afghanistan for another \u201c20, 30, 40 years.\u201d This costly foreign intervention, says Jones, is particularly worrisome considering the US government debt is at $19 trillion.<\/p>\n
Watch Jones\u2019 complete statement here:<\/p>\n