There's an even more callous explanation, than the larger scale issues:
Using up old materiel.
Every kind of ammunition has a limited shelf-life, including nuclear warheads (which is why Russia's alleged arsenal is almost certainly bogus - they simply cannot afford to maintain what they claim to have), and they must be scrapped, disposed of and when it comes to some bits and pieces recycled.
To dismantle military eplosives and weapons systems is sometimes more expensive than making them in the first place. The cheapest way to dispose of them (apart from passing the buck by selling them to some African, South American or Asian "democracy") is to use them up.
It is in no way too cynical to imagine the Rove-inspired cabinet of the Bush/Clinton years looking at it as killing several flies with one smack.
That's probably why western gov'ts freely 'donated' their hardware to Ukraine: it's way cheaper (plus it gets you virtue-signalling = browny points) than following all their own environmental™ regulations discarding all that useless stuff.
In the circles that debate and decide these things, it is the height of poor decorum to speak plainly:
Donating old materiel nets:
Virtue-points in the press
Leverage via support contracts to keep the stuff working
Keeps the receiver dependent and reliant on last-gen military tech
Hard data on performance at no real risk or cost
Saves on dismantling
Creates pretext for re-arm and re-supply
Creates pretext for research into next-gen tech
Donating/lending newish materiel nets hard data at little risk. That enemy forces may capture eq. is considered acceptable; they use a different supply-chain and different machines and equipment anyway and so are unable to start producing the captured stuff inside 5-10 years. (And if the enemy uses your stuff, you already know any weaknesses in advance.)
I’m genuinely curious, when was the last time anyone (politician/civil servant types) were held accountable for anything like this - war, fraud, high scale corruption etc?
I can maybe think of singular scape goats thrown as sacrifices to appease and cause mass-amnesia in we the plebs but not true accountability for public actions?
That doesn’t really fill me with future confidence in “justice” but then again as my cynicism grows I feel more and more we are playing out almost a scripted charade (more farse really) called Society where we ordinary folk are mere extras with little to no dialogue.
But - the slightly more optimistic me does still relish in “local theatre of the amateur kind” where I think we do have a say and can still influence “the script”.
During the Yugoslav wars I was a teen in Ireland not interested in what Blair, Clinton & co. were up to in the Balkans. In later years I've heard more cynical comments from those I respect, such as yourself, about NATO's bombing runs and then subsequent trials in the Hague.
Any tips for good reading material or other documentaries (I will definitely watch the Arte one)?
I was a teen in Austria, and the only reason I was exposed to some of this earlier may be geographical proximity. Austria took in a ton of refugees.
There's a good chapter in Ed Herman's The Politics of Genocide (2014) on Kosovo, and perhaps on Yugoslavia Misha Glenny's The fall of Yugoslavia is a good introduction (but it's been a long time since I read that one).
And then there's the whole thing about bombing civilian infrastructure, such as power stations, transformers, hospitals, etc. 'until Belgrade rolls over' or the like.
There's an even more callous explanation, than the larger scale issues:
Using up old materiel.
Every kind of ammunition has a limited shelf-life, including nuclear warheads (which is why Russia's alleged arsenal is almost certainly bogus - they simply cannot afford to maintain what they claim to have), and they must be scrapped, disposed of and when it comes to some bits and pieces recycled.
To dismantle military eplosives and weapons systems is sometimes more expensive than making them in the first place. The cheapest way to dispose of them (apart from passing the buck by selling them to some African, South American or Asian "democracy") is to use them up.
It is in no way too cynical to imagine the Rove-inspired cabinet of the Bush/Clinton years looking at it as killing several flies with one smack.
That's probably why western gov'ts freely 'donated' their hardware to Ukraine: it's way cheaper (plus it gets you virtue-signalling = browny points) than following all their own environmental™ regulations discarding all that useless stuff.
Yep.
In the circles that debate and decide these things, it is the height of poor decorum to speak plainly:
Donating old materiel nets:
Virtue-points in the press
Leverage via support contracts to keep the stuff working
Keeps the receiver dependent and reliant on last-gen military tech
Hard data on performance at no real risk or cost
Saves on dismantling
Creates pretext for re-arm and re-supply
Creates pretext for research into next-gen tech
Donating/lending newish materiel nets hard data at little risk. That enemy forces may capture eq. is considered acceptable; they use a different supply-chain and different machines and equipment anyway and so are unable to start producing the captured stuff inside 5-10 years. (And if the enemy uses your stuff, you already know any weaknesses in advance.)
I’m genuinely curious, when was the last time anyone (politician/civil servant types) were held accountable for anything like this - war, fraud, high scale corruption etc?
I can maybe think of singular scape goats thrown as sacrifices to appease and cause mass-amnesia in we the plebs but not true accountability for public actions?
I submit--it was the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1946/47, even though the other criminals presided in judgement?
Yes, that’s a good point or rather points!
That doesn’t really fill me with future confidence in “justice” but then again as my cynicism grows I feel more and more we are playing out almost a scripted charade (more farse really) called Society where we ordinary folk are mere extras with little to no dialogue.
But - the slightly more optimistic me does still relish in “local theatre of the amateur kind” where I think we do have a say and can still influence “the script”.
Oy vey! The balancing act…
During the Yugoslav wars I was a teen in Ireland not interested in what Blair, Clinton & co. were up to in the Balkans. In later years I've heard more cynical comments from those I respect, such as yourself, about NATO's bombing runs and then subsequent trials in the Hague.
Any tips for good reading material or other documentaries (I will definitely watch the Arte one)?
I was a teen in Austria, and the only reason I was exposed to some of this earlier may be geographical proximity. Austria took in a ton of refugees.
There's a good chapter in Ed Herman's The Politics of Genocide (2014) on Kosovo, and perhaps on Yugoslavia Misha Glenny's The fall of Yugoslavia is a good introduction (but it's been a long time since I read that one).
And then there's the whole thing about bombing civilian infrastructure, such as power stations, transformers, hospitals, etc. 'until Belgrade rolls over' or the like.