Pentagon "Pro-Troop" Group Misspent Millions, Report Says

[Bluebear]

A Defense Department project, supposedly designed to support U.S. troops, was used instead to channel millions of dollars to personal friends and allies of its chief. The "America Supports You," or ASY, program was led in a "questionable and unregulated manner," according to a Department of Defense Inspector General report, obtained by Danger Room. At least $9.2 million was "inappropriately transferred" by the project's managers. Much of that money served only to further promote ASY, instead of assisting servicemembers.

In 2004, the office of then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld set up ASY as a six-month effort to showcase the U.S. public's backing for the troops and their families. "If you're serving overseas, and you watch the mainstream media coverage, sometimes you can't tell if America knows you're there," one official overseeing the program says. America Supports You was seen as a way to counteract that sense.

In time, however, the program grew. Pro-troop rallies were organized. Special wristband and dog tags were made. Special-edition comic books were printed up. Processions were held on the National Mall, on the 9/11 anniversary. Sesame Street characters were enlisted to make DVDs that encouraged families with young children to talk about overseas deployments. America Supports You became a kind of umbrella group for all sorts of charity-related work for service members and military families.

Meanwhile, ASY began to spend millions — not to help the troops, the Inspector General says, but to help itself. "Instead of focusing on its primary mission of showcasing and communicating support to the troops and their families, the ASY program focus building or soliciting support from the public," the Inspector General's report notes. In 2006 and 2007, for instance, more than $600,000 was spent ginning up support for America Supports You among schoolchildren. Another $165,000 went to a pro-ASY concert aboard the USS Intrepid, docked on Manhattan's west side. And $15,000 went to actor and musician Gary Sinise's "Lt. Dan Band" to play a separate show. The report calls all of these "questionable and unregulated actions."

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/asy.html

[anigbrowl]

1. This fails to surprise me

Of course, a lot of conservatives have made a nice few bucks from turning 'support the troops' into 'support the War' and selling merchandise.

[Bluebear]

2. Nothing shocks me anymore where these people are concerned. nt

[arcadian]

3. Those comic books are absolute shite.

I have them. They were put out in combination with Marvel, America Supports You and the Army Air Force Exchange Service(AAFES). Every other page was an ad for some crap they sell at the exchange, more ads than regular comics. The storyline of the comics was typical War on Terror propaganda. Intermixing Superheroes like Captain America and Ironman with regular grunts "on the frontlines" in unnamed Middle Eastern countries, they even worked the AAFES into the story lines. Pure propaganda crap.