Afghans at US Bases Clogged Pipes, Broke Cots, Dirtied Facilities With Human Biological Matter
File—In this Thursday, April 3, 2003 file photo an aircraft departure from US Air Base Ramstein, Germany
Over 122,000 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan in the chaotic final days of August 2021 after the Afghan government and military financed, armed, and trained by NATO crumbled in the face of a Taliban* offensive. The consequences of the evacuation continue to reverberate to this day.Afghan refugees housed at military bases across the United States and abroad reportedly did some $259.5 million in damage to the facilities housing them.According to a Pentagon audit report, Operation Allies Welcome and Operation Allies Refuge, the official names of the effort to evacuate Afghan civilians who had assisted the US and NATO-backed government in some way, such as interpreters, embassy employees, and others, caused hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected expenses.Refugees were housed across 11 different Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases, including Fort Bliss, Fort Lee, Fort McCoy, Fort Pickett and Camp Atterbury, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and Holloman Air Force Base, all in the US. Additional refugees were temporarily based at US Naval Station Rota in Spain, US Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy, and Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
While the bases abroad listed only about $3 million in costs from housing the refugees, all of them consisting of equipment and consumables, such as medical, office and cleaning supplies, field rations, mattresses, tents, cots, and furniture, the US locations suffered far higher restoration costs, racking over $200 million in damages to facilities.
The range of damage astounded auditors. “The Air Force reported damages, such as tents and cots that were broken, stained with spray-paint, or contaminated with human biological matter. In addition, the Air Force reported depleted medical supplies and materials, structural damage to the airfield asphalt and infrastructure, broken water systems (sinks, toilet, and floor drains), and broken or missing locks, doors, windows, and fixtures.”
WorldFormer Afghan President Says US Was Involved in Corruption in His Country27 December, 11:49 GMTJoint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst officials grumbled that its “guests” had “damaged facility water systems by forcing large items into pipes, causing clogs,” with “these clogged water systems…so excessive that the facility managers could not repair the clogs with conventional plumbing tools.”Damage to Army assets were reportedly the worst, with the branch estimating $175.01 million in costs for repairs – $140.96 million of that at Fort McCoy, which housed some 12,706 refugees across 213 buildings. “Fort McCoy reported that all of the barracks needed repairs or replacement of walls, ceilings, floors, doors, bathrooms, plumbing, electrical systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems, and exterior siding,” the report said.The report included photographic evidence of curious damage to facilities, including issues at Camp Atterbury ranging from mangled roof shingles and siding to an interior shot showing a support brace which seemed to have its wood siding molding ripped off the wall some reason.© Photo : US Department of DefenseScreengrab of DoD audit report on damage to facilities, purportedly caused by Afghan refugees housed there.
Screengrab of DoD audit report on damage to facilities, purportedly caused by Afghan refugees housed there.It’s not clear how much of the $259.5 million in damages were actually caused by the refugees, and how much may be a money grab by the Pentagon to justify spending more taxpayer dollars to spruce up aging facilities.More than 68,000 refugees evacuated from Afghanistan in August 2021 have been resettled across the United States, with European countries taking in about 42,500 more.
MilitaryPentagon’s Chaotic Inventory Failed to Accurately Track US Weapons Given to Kabul, SIGAR Says18 November, 16:52 GMTThe US military and its allies organized a hasty evacuation of Afghanistan to get troops, diplomatic personnel, intelligence assets, and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians assisting the occupation out of the country after the Kabul government and the Afghan Army crumbled as the Taliban stormed through the country and captured dozens of cities in less than two weeks.* A group under United Nations sanctions for terrorist activities.
