Expert Opinion
AIN Blog: Golden Fleecing U.S. Taxpayers

For a time in the 1970s and 1980s, Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire gave out his Golden Fleece Awards. But they had nothing to do with Jason and Argonauts.

The late senator bestowed his mock trophies to highlight government waste. Were he alive today, the Pentagon would have just presented itself as a fine recipient. The Defense Department has earmarked more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to buy Swiss-built cargo airplanes and Russian-made helicopters for an Afghan aviation unit that lacks the personnel and training to operate and maintain the equipment.