The Defense Department bought 20 Italian G222 transport aircraft for $486 million for the Afghan Air Force. The manufacturer was a North American affiliate of Alenia Aermacchi, an Italian aerospace company.

The planes were plagued with technical problems that kept them grounded. Eventually the military gave up. Instead of holding the manufacturer accountable, they decided to scrap 16 of the planes for $32,000 in scrap metal. Four of the planes remain in Ramstein, Germany.

This is just one example of a half billion dollars down the drain. It didn’t help the warfighters in Afghanistan. It didn’t help the Afghan people. It didn’t help U.S. veterans returning from the war. It didn’t pave roads in Los Angeles. It didn’t build mass transportation systems in the United States. It didn’t feed the poor in New York City. It didn’t repair our bridges in the U.S. It didn’t build any new schools.

It put money into the pockets of the shareholders of Alenia Aermacchi and the military industrial complex that feeds off it.

This is an example of the use of our defense budget. This $486 million had NOTHING to do with defense.