US Spends $1 Billion on Russian Helicopters for Afghan Military: Why?

According to a top secret 2010 report the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter is better then the US-made Chinook helicopter built by Boeing in Pennsylvania. Army Secretary John McHugh wrote in a 2011 memo "that the Mi-17 stands apart" when compared with other helicopters.

Another study shows the Chinook was found to be "the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the Afghan Air Force over a twenty year" period.

This has the Christian Science Monitor and many others asking Why is US buying Russian helicopters for Afghan military?

Higher Quality Questions

I am not qualified to comment on which helicopter is better. Instead I want to ask a higher quality question:

What the hell are we still doing in Afghanistan?

We should have declared the war won 10 years ago and left. Better yet, we should not have gone there at all in the first place.

Based on that simple logic, we should buy neither the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters nor the Boeing Chinook for Afghanistan.

Either way, I wonder if the real reason we bought Russian helicopters is fear for what happens to Chinook technology once we leave Afghanistan and the country falls to the Taliban once again.

Regardless of "why" many important high-level questions remain.

Open Questions

1. In what ways does the top secret report show the Russian-made Mi-17 to be superior?
2. If the Mi-17 is superior, how much money are we wasting on the Boeing Chinook program?
3. How much money did we waste in Afghanistan?
4. 13 years! Why?
5. When, if ever, are we going to learn from such stupidity?

Addendum: Here is the rationale for the Mi-17
There is no reasonable rationale for being in Afghanistan for 13 years 

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com