At least $500 million has been spent since 9/11 on renovating Guantanamo Bay

[cory777]

Source: Washington Post

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA -- At the U.S. naval station here, a handsome electronic sign hangs between two concrete pillars. In yellow enamel against a blue metal backdrop is a map of Cuba, the "Pearl of the Antilles," above flashing time and temperature readings.

"Welcome Aboard," the sign says.

The cost of the marquee, along with a smaller sign positioned near the airfield: $188,000. Among other odd legacies from war-on-terror spending since 2001 for the troops at Guantanamo Bay: an abandoned volleyball court for $249,000, an unused go-kart track for $296,000 and $3.5 million for 27 playgrounds that are often vacant.

The Pentagon also spent $683,000 to renovate a cafe that sells ice cream and Starbucks coffee, and $773,000 to remodel a cinder-block building to house a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/06/AR2010060604093.html?nav=rss_email/components

[Desertrose]

1. One word...WHY?

Really...why??

...and who authorized all this?

[aquart]

2. That would be my question.

[PSPS]

5. Simple. A conduit from the treasury to bush contributors and cronies.

They should all be swinging from lamp posts.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. A portion of each project is skimmed.

E.g., that volleyball court is only overpriced by $240,000.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. I'm sure Starbucks, KFC & Taco Bell are going to love the attention in the press

or so I imagine

[avaistheone1]

4. Military industrial complex bleeding the taxpayers while waving the red, white and blue.

Disgusting.

Cost of a marquee and small sign $188,000 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[w4rma]

6. BP has had to pay about one tenth of that to clean up their destruction of the Gulf. (nt)

[bahrbearian]

7. Let me quess Hailburton was the contractor?

[Raster]

9. But of course, or one of it's shell entities. Uber-secret, no bid contracts.

National security, don' cha know?:wink:

[underpants]

8. more

Also not included are annual operating costs of $150 million — double the amount for a comparable U.S. prison, according to the White House. Add in clandestine black-budget items, such as the top-secret Camp 7 prison for high-value detainees, aptly nicknamed Camp Platinum, and the post-Sept. 11, 2001, bill for the 45-square-mile base easily soars toward $2 billion.

Overall, the prison camp operation that hugs the Caribbean coastline cost about $220 million to build over several years, a price that does not include Camp 7, which holds 16 of the most notorious detainees, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. And $13 million was spent to construct a courthouse complex that appears custom-designed for Mohammed and his four co-defendants.

But as spending accelerated over the years, and more and more construction and renovation contracts were awarded, the number of detainees steadily declined, from a peak of 680 in May 2003 to 181 now.