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Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz: ‘The U.S. Military Is Spending $20 Million for Firewood’

Sep. 14, 2012 12:04am Jason Howerton

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) revealed that the U.S. military is currently spending about $20 million on firewood. That’s right, firewood.

“It mentions in your report that the U.S. military is spending $20 million for firewood. Is there any justification for $20 million in Afghan firewood?” Chaffetz asks John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

“Mr. Chairman that was one of the more interesting comments my auditor told me is that — you are absolutely correct we are paying…approximately $20 million a year for firewood,” Sopko confirmed. “And when my auditors asked for documentation on what we spent on firewood, we were basically told quote unquote ‘we don’t have, the records we just spend the money.’”

Watch part of the hearing titled “SIGAR Report: Document Destruction and Millions of Dollars Unaccounted for at the Department of Defense. Part II” below:

Front page image by AP/Charles Dharapak.

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Comments (122)

Delores at CH WV
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 5:36am
One: Why would the military use firewood in a country that is surrounded by oil for sale?

Two: Why am I hearing radio Ad Council promos about never moving firewood when you cut it because it is spreading the “boar beatle”. On my radio station, this Ad runs more times than I can count.

Since Obama came into office, the Gov. Ads support most of the commerical breaks. What is up with that? I especially love the . . . Take in an exchange student from Cario, Egypt so your child can learn a foreign language; Telling legal as well as illegal men 18 and up, they must register with the government; If I was illegal would I be stupid enough to believe this Ad that I would not get a student loan or other government help if I do not sign up. I thought illegals didn’t get gov. loans and grants, food stamps, TANF, and other gov. programs;

And, I love the hr on hr of the radio Ad commerial telling us how we must follow all the safety steps of working in a coal mine; the leader explains step by step instructions, then, you must turn in coal operators and miners who ignore these safety steps and contact the government.

All of these radio commericals are wasting fed. funding. Has anyone checked the AD Council’s financial books? I am sure we could hire some folks to sweep streets or something for a paycheck with what the Big Brother is wasting on these public service ads from movie stars and US Depart. heads teaching us about mine safety: coal miners are jobless beca

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- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 6:07am
  Hi Delores,
  
  You may just want to focus on the 1.3 billion rounds of high caliber ammo that your government just purchased.
  
  And, if you ever see the military buying firewood over here, be very concerned that they are preparing for a huge EMP attack.
  
  Report this comment
- 13th Imam
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 8:33am
  Delores
  Here in Connecticut, it is infected Ashwood the gov is touting. Each state must have it’s own infection.
  
  Report this comment
- Murkman
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 9:59am
  Former radio guy here. When you hear “Ad Council” that’s a non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements. Government agencies produce some of the content.
  
  The real point is they are not paid spots. The radio station makes no money from them. If you hear a lot of them especially during the morning and the afternoon when audience levels are highest that basically means the station isn’t selling enough of its ad space so they pop in a :30 or :60 second PSA to fill the commercial break. I’d guess you’re in a small radio market and some Joe Shmo who works the console is just trying to fill the hole. His only agenda is no dead air. It’s probably that simple.
  
  Report this comment
- Truth4SureNuff
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 10:15am
  Delores,
  illegals get all the benefits that citizens get, including free health care at any emergency room, housing subsidy and a pre-loaded debit card because food stamps have a negative connotation.
  Wake up they even get in state tuition in several locals.
  
  Report this comment
- TreeTrimmerJim
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 10:33am
  Hey Delores… what does it take to have a wood fire verses an oil fire for cooking? Do you do a lot of cooking over oil fires at your house?
  
  What can be used to transport wood? How about oil? An old pickup will haul a lot of wood and very little oil.
  
  Report this comment
- Elena2010
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 11:53am
  Afghanistan has no oil or other natural resources other than the ability to grow the opium poppy.
  
  It’s a landlocked mountainous or arid country. The Taliban destroyed ancient irrigation systems that allowed the people to grow enough food to feed themselves and have fruit for trade.
  
  Afghans are Afghanistan’s own worst enemy.
  
  Report this comment
asybot12
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 5:18am
@shoot2stop; It was a great deal man , the guy threw in 5 extra pcs, the kindling and he and his cousins delivered! it only took three weeks!

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spikebu
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 5:08am
It costs me about $350 for a cord of wood. It lasts the entire winter. Yeah, it’s Arizona. Anything below 70, IS winter. 78 degrees requires a sweater. That said, is there even 20 million worth of firewood IN Afghanistan? Arizona is home to the largest pine forest in the country. What kind of trees grow in Afghanistan? I don’t know. If they’re selling 20million/year just to the US military, I think there’s not a tree left standing anywhere in Afghanistan, maybe even the Middle East. Somebody stumbled into some covert funding.

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- bpodlesnik
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 7:34am
  It costs you 350 for a cord!? You need to come up here and buy from the Amish for a little over $100.
  
  Report this comment
- rabblechat
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 8:01am
  Is $350.00 a cord is the going rate in Arizona? If so that could make for a great opportunity for someone to deliver it from the Midwest.
  I can have someone else cut, split and deliver to my property for under $125.00 and that is good hardwood, not pine. No one around here burns pine except for kindling.
  How many cords you think you could move in a year?
  
  Report this comment
- PsychGen
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 8:51am
  Wow! You just created a market AND jobs. Did the government help you come up with this idea? If not, better not let them know you did this all by yourself…
  
  Report this comment
PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 4:37am
So, Tom Coburn can find $9 Trillion in government duplication and waste, he tells members of Senate and Congress day after day on the floor about it. Issues reports “Back In Black”. Writes a Book about the Waste and inefficiency and duplication.
AND now they’re concerned about $20 million to keep our troops warm in the mountains of Afganistan….CUT the $9 TRILLION and God Bless the US Men and Women and BRING THEM HOME NOW. NO more nation building…there is NO nation to build but ours. Put them HERE on our Boarders NOW. PLEASE.

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MarciaStarfish
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 4:33am
Here are 95 examples of Barack Obama’s lying, lawbreaking, corruption, and cronyism: http://tinyurl.com/95examples

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- LibertyGoddess
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 10:42am
  Thanks for the refresher course. Everyone needs to post this on a liberal blog, FB (if you have it) and email it out to your friends.
  
  Report this comment
sparkyrules
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:52am
USA Military is PRICELESS.There’s no bounds for our kids being in ****holes like Afghanistan!

They WANT IT,THEY GET IT from USA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

BRING THEM HOME…DEMAND IT !

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sparkyrules
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:46am
I agree.Burn some BS ….save some dollars!

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sparkyrules
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:43am
It don’t matter what it costs.USA Military is priceless where ever they are.

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- Frost_Pendragon
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 4:01am
  I agree that we should ensure that our soldiers have the equipment and tools necessary to complete their missions and come home.
  Unfortunately, there shipping containers full of equipment that is stored and built up over the course of deployments because they get so much crap issued to them that they don’t need. PEO Soldier is able to do rapid procurement, but they don’t follow up on how much that equipment is used. It’s sad that they will try and issue thousands of dollars worth of cold weather gear to every single soldier, regardless of position, and the **** sits in duffel bags the entire deployment. They need better feedback, review, and audit of expenditures.
  
  Report this comment
Obamujahadeen
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:41am
That’s hilarious and true. They’re burning bibles in Saudi every day they confiscate.

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sparkyrules
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:40am
A man has to keep warm,$20 million is cheap for our Military all over the fuggin’ World

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AChatterer
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:39am
When I was in the military there were campgrounds we could go to that had fire wood provided so a bunch of Marines didn’t go out and find **** to burn. Also some training areas got cold and that what we used for heat and cooking. You would be surprised how hard it is to find a thermostat and a microwave out there.

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Frost_Pendragon
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:28am
I know everyone wants to go crazy about firewood, but here’s the facts. We use firewood at the remote outposts. For cooking, and for heat. It gets COLD, especially in the mountains. Do they overpay for firewood? absolutely, the same way they overpay for concrete, construction, private security contracts, and a slew of other garbage. Speaking of garbage, how about you cherry pick the trash disposal costs?

There’s enough **** to criticize about the manner in which Afghanistan is conducted, this is a weak argument at best.

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- Chet Hempstead
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 4:26am
  That’s absolutely correct. I might add from what I remember from visiting India many years ago, wood gatherers work hard and nobody gets rich doing it even if they are selling in towns that are visited by foreign travelers. Wood is expensive because you’re up in high mountains where a man has to walk for miles to gather as much as he can carry, not in a forest where you could just pick up as much as you need twenty feet from your camp whenever you run out. So you shell out for a bundle of wood every night. What else are you going to do, dig a coal mine in your copious free time?
  
  Report this comment
ConstLaw
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:15am
@ dovndce your just another liberal that wants our military to go GREEN. LOL

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ZAP
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:11am
MARISSA PEYTON now WORKS the STREETS

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ApostolicIlx
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 2:33am
Should have just done a re-run of the Dresden Firebombing and shown the world why it’s called “WAR”. Wouldn’t need to have firewood then, scorched earth policy. LOL

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- PATTY HENRY
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 3:24am
  KEEP truckin’ JASON!!! It’s so clear that the “LET ME GET MINE FIRST” attitude is all over our GOBMENT. I can’t wait for REAL LEADERSHIP to take the helm and for people who work for the GOBMENT to treat the job with respect and this COUNTRY with love and respect. THOSE jerks over there in Afghanistan with Karzai have just rolled on us. PRAY for MITT/PAUL …. I wonder how lousy a person must feel about himself knowing he’s ripped off the greatest nation on earth, one that he/she swore to defend/protect ?
  
  Report this comment
TelepromoterNChief
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 2:12am
The military has their reasons like why they are hoarding…err..stockpiling all the helium around the country.

Balloon drop for when Romney becomes POTUS.

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RANGER1965
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:07am
These expenses and others are likely part of a black budget slush fund, to pay for things that don’t get reported.

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- grayling646
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:39am
  That was my first thought too. That and why did Chaffetz bring it up.
  
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christos
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:45am
…Planning ahead possibly if their was an emp,,,firewood wood come in handy.

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- Marine 1
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:32am
  Oh, Jason, you know the firewood is for the new military gay love camps and the G.I. S’mores festivals coming up this fall.! How dare you try and mess with those functions.
  
  Bad Rep Jason. Time out in your office for one hour.
  
  Report this comment
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:32am
That is nothing, you should see in what the DoD pays for toilet paper, hand soap, and condoms. But 20 mill. is nothing compared to what Nancy Pelosi spent in booze in 4 years as speaker. Oh, wait, we forgot about that.

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banjarmon
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:28am
Were they cold or cooking with all that firewood???

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- Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:46am
  Have you ever been to Afghanistan? Not a lot of wood in those mountains or remote areas. And besides, how else do you smoke ribs? Wood is the only way to go, and everyone knows, Afghans are great at smoking wood, just ask all those guys hanging out in the afgan mens room.
- Wyerd_001
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:29am
  It gets mighty cold ion remote bases…..
  
  Report this comment
Elena2010
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:16am
I’m starting to think maybe we should have saved blood and treasure back in ’01 and just nuked them then!

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- riseandshine
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:21am
  Nuke who and for what?
  
  Report this comment
- KangarooJack
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:28am
  Hey, Rise….need some coffee???
  September 11th, 2001. ….ring a bell?
  
  Report this comment
- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:31am
  @Elena:
  
  Nuclear no; we should have kept to the opening rounds of sending in Special Forces to assist the Northern Alliance as we did, backed up by the Air Force for bomb strikes. This worked out well, but where we allowed the mistake to be made was the commitment of armed forces for the purpose of nation building.
  
  We should have gone in, cleaned out the Al Queda and Taliban, and then come home.
  
  In the context of Special Operations supporting and coordinating with the native forces, it was proven to work again with the Kurdish armed forces against Sadam Hussein in Iraq in 2003.
  
  Report this comment
- Dismayed Veteran
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 9:40am
  Snow.
  
  I agree 100%. We needed to exact retribution by utterly destroying Osama then come home.
  
  Report this comment
- riseandshine
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 10:33am
  @Roo…..Uh..yeah I know.
  
  Report this comment
DOra Glasberg
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:16am
Well those Republicans refuse to even consider cuts or accountability in the Military budget.
Isn’t that a fact? Good ole’ Cheney/Halliburton crony capitalism.

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otis1966
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:14am
Who should be suprised as to this kind of waste? After all this is happening because the rich are not paying their fair share.

Typical for Barry “Tax and Spend” Obama. I am sure the DOJ will get right into an investigation to clear things up or indict those for wrong doing. Hello Comrade Holder are you there? Not!

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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 2:35am
  RRIIiiiggghhhhhtttttt… because barry started the militarys’ spending habits.
  
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skiziks20453
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:11am
I wonder what they pay per cord…: )

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- Shoot2Stop
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 4:40am
  That twenty million was a per-cord price, kindling extra.
  
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IndyServative
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 12:08am
What a shocker! Unheard of! Wasteful govt spending? I am appalled.

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- Welcome Black Carter
  Posted on September 14, 2012 at 8:41am
  The A-rabs won’t cook with gas. All the kitchens had to be retro fitted to cook with wood. Their efforts to drag the world kicking and screaming to the second century seem to be going well…
  The good news is a few people are starting to wake up to the fact that islam is at war with us.
  We thank them for their help, in attacking ou on the anniversary of 9/11 … You can’t make this stuff up.
  
  Report this comment

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