{"id":2399263,"date":"2025-02-05T13:13:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-bought-cargo-planes-for-500-million-then-sold-them-for-32000-combined\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T13:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:15:25","slug":"pentagon-bought-cargo-planes-for-500-million-then-sold-them-for-32000-combined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-bought-cargo-planes-for-500-million-then-sold-them-for-32000-combined\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Bought Cargo Planes for $500 Million Then Sold Them for $32,000 Combined"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpentagon-bought-cargo-planes-for-500-million-then-sold-them-for-32000-combined%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2399263&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text discusses the significant financial waste incurred by the\u2063 U.S. \u200bgovernment\u200c during\u200c its \u200dinvolvement in Afghanistan,\u200d particularly focusing on a poorly executed procurement\u200b of cargo planes. The Pentagon reportedly \u200cspent $549 \u2062million on 20 refurbished\u200c aeritalia G.222 planes, which\u200c quickly became unusable and\u200d were later sold for\u2062 scrap metal at a mere $40,257.Key issues included maintenance challenges, \u200dsafety complaints \u2062from Afghan\u200b pilots,\u200c and a\u2063 lack of accountability\u2064 for those responsible \u2063for the failed program. Importantly, a former \u200dU.S. Air Force general involved in the decision faced no repercussions,\u200c despite \u2064having a conflict \u2062of interest when transitioning from military duty to\u200b a role with the plane\u2019s manufacturer.The\u200c analysis highlights broader examples \u2062of fiscal irresponsibility in Afghanistan, drawing parallels with how \u200dsuch waste\u2064 would \u200cnot \u200cbe tolerated in the\u2062 private \u2064sector and \u2062emphasizes\u2064 the need for governmental accountability.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Want to know how much money our government wasted in Afghanistan during America&rsquo;s longest war?<\/p>\n<p>Actually, you probably&nbsp;<em>don&rsquo;t<\/em>. It&rsquo;s only Wednesday, and trying to wrap your head around those numbers on hump day is a little much &mdash; even for the most chipper of cubicle residents.<\/p>\n<p>However, consider this tidbit, somewhat pertinent now that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-karoline-leavitt-pulls-insane-list-usaid-expenditures-reporter-frets-humanitarian-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> is much in the news: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/predicted-march-4-attack-capitol-fails-materialize-pentagon-hit-yet-another-request-extend-dc-troop-deployment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Pentagon<\/a> spent $549 million on 20 Italian-made cargo planes for the Afghan government that were so bad, they were all sold less than six years later for less than the price of some new cars.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s all the planes&nbsp;<em>together<\/em>. Not one. All of &rsquo;em.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/pentagon-spent-millions-faulty-italian-planes-afghans-later-sold-scrap-n1259332\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBC News<\/a> reported, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/air-force-vet-testifies-recovering-alien-craft-not-human-says-officials-later-confirmed-nhi-non-human-intelligence-involved\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Air Force<\/a> agreed to buy 20 refurbished Aeritalia G.222s &mdash; a plane manufactured between 1970 and 1993 &mdash; from Alenia Aeronautica, a company formed out of the merger of Aeritalia and another Italian firm.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The deal, according to a 2009 article from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flightglobal.com\/alenia-looks-beyond-afghanistan-for-refurbished-g222-sales\/89225.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FlightGlobal<\/a>, involved planes that had previously served with the Italian Air Force and that would be transferred to the Afghan National Army Air Corps.<\/p>\n<p>That article &mdash; &ldquo;Alenia looks beyond Afghanistan for refurbished G222 sales&rdquo; &mdash; probably should have contained some red flags for those looking for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-go-to-war-against-joe-bidens-450k-payouts-to-border-crossers-civilizational-homicide\/\" title=\"Republicans Go to War Against Joe Biden&#039;s 0K Payouts to Border Crossers: &#039;Civilizational Homicide&#039;\">long-term viability<\/a> of the planes: &ldquo;Libya and Peru are interested to add the aircraft to their military cargo fleets, while existing G222 customers Argentina and Thailand could also join the program,&rdquo; FlightGlobal reported.<\/p>\n<p>When the other countries kicking the tires on used G.222s included Qaddafi-era Libya, maybe that should have told you this wasn&rsquo;t exactly what one might call a desirable, dependable workhorse of the skies.<\/p>\n<p>And indeed, it was not: As NBC News reported in 2021, a U.S. government watchdog noted &ldquo;the planes proved unreliable, with long delays to secure the delivery of spare parts, maintenance problems and numerous complaints about their safety from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/three-small-details-photo-first-taliban-trained-pilots-damning-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Afghan pilots<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The program was suspended and the planes were destroyed and turned into scrap metal in 2014, selling for $40,257, according to the report.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And the best part: No one was held to account!<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Unfortunately, no one involved in the program was held accountable for the failure of the G222 program,&rdquo; the report said.<\/p>\n<p>This is despite the fact that, according to the report, someone definitely&nbsp;<em>should<\/em> have been held to account: namely, a former U.S. Air Force general who had been heavily involved in the decision to acquire the faulty planes.<\/p>\n<p>The report noted that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/biden-nominee-air-force-brigadier-general-blames-fellow-white-colonels-biggest-barriers-dei-agenda-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> &ldquo;had a clear conflict of interest because he was significantly involved with the G222 program while on active duty, then retired and became the primary contact for Alenia on the same program.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Oh.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, while the Department of Justice took up the case in 2016, it found that charges against either the general or others involved were too problematic to make in court.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the S<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sigar.mil\/Portals\/147\/Files\/Reports\/Special-Projects\/Special-Projects-Review\/SIGAR-21-21-SP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pecial Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction<\/a> found that the Air Force had been warned that Alenia had an insufficient plan to service and maintain the G.222s, but the warnings &ldquo;were ignored.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>U.S. contractors, SIGAR noted, &ldquo;did not check that Alenia had the required spare parts available as promised.&rdquo; They also didn&rsquo;t confirm the planes&rsquo; airworthiness, &ldquo;especially in the high altitude and extreme weather conditions of Afghanistan.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>So, out of $549 million of Italian military cargo planes bought with U.S. taxpayer money, we got back roughly enough to buy an Italian car. Provided it&rsquo;s used, and probably just an Alfa Romeo. That&rsquo;s a 99.9936 percent loss in value.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, the Alfa will probably be more reliable than the G.222s were &mdash; and the people responsible for the panel gaps on those things should be brought up on charges, just like the people involved in the Alenia\/Afghanistan deal were not.<\/p>\n<p>And that&rsquo;s not the only risible example of wasted money in Afghanistan. Consider some examples from a 2015 list assembled by <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/graphics\/afghan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ProPublica<\/a>: $456,000 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bob-barr-are-we-living-in-a-third-world-country-no-but-in-some-ways-its-worse\/\" title=\"Bob Barr: Are We Living in a Third-World Country? No, But in Some Ways It\u2019s Worse\">police training facility<\/a> that melted in the rain (that&rsquo;s what you get for hiring the Wicked Witch of the West as a building contractor, I suppose), $7 million for a border police headquarters made for 175 officers but which could only be staffed with 12 because the Afghans didn&rsquo;t have a key to most of the buildings, $200 million for a literacy training program for military\/police recruits that couldn&rsquo;t be evaluated for efficacy (and likely wasn&rsquo;t efficacious given that some of the classes were only held for two hours a <em>month<\/em>), $109 million for training Afghan pilots on helicopter missions they couldn&rsquo;t actually fly, and roughly $1 billion for what even left-leaning ProPublica defined as &ldquo;broad, undefined justice initiatives.&rdquo; (Hey, speaking of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/amid-dem-outrage-usaid-ernst-sets-record-straight-potentially-shuttered-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USAID<\/a> &hellip;)<\/p>\n<p>In other words, if you ever needed an example of <em>why<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/doge-targets-insane-budget-earmarked-candy-blankets-comic-books-stuffed-animals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we need DOGE<\/a>, you could do a whole lot worse than this wretched affair. Any corporation responsible for this kind of malfeasance would have itself or its officers, or both, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">spending significant time inside numerous courtrooms<\/a>. And yet, not even an Air Force general with a clear conflict of interest who cajoled the military into spending over $500 million on literally worthless planes faced no repercussions.<\/p>\n<p>Fixing the upside-down world of the U.S. government won&rsquo;t be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. If you think the fight isn&rsquo;t worth it, ask yourself whether you&rsquo;d buy a car so badly made it depreciated by 99.9936 percent.<\/p>\n<p>No, and if you ended up with such a lemon, you&rsquo;d demand someone pay. You should demand the same from your government. Period.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\"> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t<script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> \t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\"> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t<script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> \t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Curious about the financial waste by our government in Afghanistan during America&#8217;s longest conflict? You might not want to know. It&#8217;s only Wednesday, and grappling with those figures midweek can be overwhelming\u2014even for the most upbeat office workers. Still, here&#8217;s a noteworthy fact, especially relevant given the recent focus on government efficiency: The Pentagon spent $549 million on 20 Italian cargo planes for the Afghan government that were so subpar they were sold off less than six years later for less than what some new cars cost\u2014collectively. In 2008, NBC News reported that the U.S. Air Force agreed to purchase these refurbished Aeritalia G.222s from Alenia Aeronautica, a company formed from a merger of Aeritalia and another Italian firm.<\/p>\n<p>According to a 2009 FlightGlobal article, these planes had previously been used by the Italian Air Force before being transferred to the Afghan National Army Air Corps. The article hinted at potential issues regarding their long-term viability: \u201cLibya and Peru are interested in adding these aircraft to their military cargo fleets,\u201d it stated, which should have raised concerns about their desirability as reliable aircraft\u2014especially since one of those countries was Qaddafi-era Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, as NBC News reported in 2021, a U.S. government watchdog found that \u201cthe planes proved unreliable,\u201d suffering from delays in spare parts delivery and maintenance issues along with safety complaints from Afghan pilots. The program was ultimately suspended; by 2014, all planes had been destroyed and sold as scrap metal for just $40,257 total.<\/p>\n<p>Shockingly enough, no one faced consequences! A report noted that despite clear accountability issues\u2014particularly concerning a former U.S. Air Force general involved in acquiring these faulty planes who later became Alenia&#8217;s primary contact\u2014no charges were pursued due to complications identified by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, warnings about Alenia&#8217;s inadequate maintenance plan went unheeded; contractors failed to verify if necessary spare parts were available or if the planes met airworthiness standards suitable for Afghanistan\u2019s challenging conditions.<\/p>\n<p>In summary: out of $549 million spent on Italian military cargo planes funded by taxpayers&#8217; money, we ended up with an amount barely sufficient to buy an old car\u2014likely just an Alfa Romeo\u2014with an astonishing loss of value at approximately 99.9936 percent! Unfortunately for us taxpayers\u2014and ironically\u2014the Alfa would probably prove more reliable than those G.222s ever did.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t even an isolated incident; there are numerous examples of squandered funds in Afghanistan highlighted by ProPublica back in 2015: $456K wasted on a police training facility that collapsed under rain; $7 million spent on border police headquarters meant for 175 officers but only staffed with twelve due to lack of access keys; $200 million allocated towards ineffective literacy programs; and around $1 billion designated for vague justice initiatives among others.<\/p>\n<p>If you need proof why we require better oversight like DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), this dismal situation serves as prime evidence! Any corporation responsible would face serious legal repercussions\u2014but here we see no accountability even when significant conflicts arise involving high-ranking officials who misled military spending decisions worth over half-a-billion dollars on essentially worthless aircraft!<\/p>\n<p>Fixing such systemic failures within our government won&#8217;t be easy\u2014but it&#8217;s essential work worth pursuing nonetheless! If you wouldn&#8217;t buy a car depreciating nearly entirely after purchase without demanding accountability from someone responsible\u2014you should expect nothing less from your own government too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2399264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Scrapped-Planes.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[49876,38935,42461,48546,3761],"class_list":["post-2399263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cargo-planes","tag-financial-loss","tag-government-contracts","tag-military-spending","tag-pentagon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Scrapped-Planes.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399267,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399263\/revisions\/2399267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}