http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...1_story_1.html
A brand-new U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.
The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. But the military has no plans to ever use it. Commanders in the area, who insisted three years ago that they did not need the building, now are in the process of withdrawing forces and see no reason to move into the new facility.
The headquarters has its origin in 2009, when President Obama decided to surge more troops to southern Afghanistan to beat back Taliban insurgents. Army planners in South Carolina and at the Pentagon determined that Camp Leatherneck, which had been selected as the headquarters for Marine forces in the south, required a sophisticated command-and-control facility.
When Marine officers in Helmand heard of the plans, they objected. The commander at the time, then-Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills, believed his plywood-walled headquarters was sufficient and made that clear to his superiors in Kabul.
And, the officials note, the U.S. military recently built a new headquarters building on the Afghan base that adjoins Leatherneck.
Based on his conversations with military officials, he said one of the options now seems to be gaining traction: “The building will probably be demolished.”