dam (damn!) in Afghanistan

The U.S. is hip-deep in a $500 million effort to refurbish the hydro-electric Kajaki dam in Afghanistan before American troops withdraw.

It's a dangerous and iffy business and it makes me wonder if the American companies that benefited from the American war-making -- Haliburton, Rockwell, GE and the like -- might not like to foot the bill as a gesture of corporate 'good will.'

Were they to do so, perhaps the $500 million could be spent on creating, let's say, infrastructure jobs in the United States. Or schools. Or hospitals. Or cleanup in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Or some other form of employment for those without.

$500 million is chump change for corporations that have raked in billions while making the deaths of our children possible.