Hearts and minds – and a fistful of dollars

In 2010 the Pentagon (ours) gave Kyrgyzstan $748,000 to renovate a former state hospital as a “development center for battered women” and “a shelter for up to 55 women and their children.”

The money came from the touchy-feely DoD, that new part that does not recall when there was a War Department and would likely say “Well, that was then; this is now” and be quite correct on the latter part. Indeed, this is now.

Why Kyrgyzstan could not afford to free up three-quarters-of-a-million for its own people … Well, the decision was made in D.C., after all, and like some U.S. states, if Washington is going to give away that much free money, if we don’t take it, Uzbekistan will, having its own women beaten and otherwise abused by husbands/boyfriends.

Everybody who thinks the money was spent exactly as Pentagon planners and press people said, raise your hand.

That’s right.

“For a time, the impressively refurbished two-story building stood empty. Today it accommodates a private kindergarten that earns its owners roughly $47,000 per year, based on calculations using figures provided by the school’s employees.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72606

To be accurate, the $748,000 came from Manas Air Base humanitarian funds, and not directly from the Pentagon, but disbursement of that amount of money is not normally approved by a base commander only. And, what better opens purses at the Pentagon these days than "shelter," "battered women" and "it's for the kids."