What’s more, the contractor — Rosoboronexport — at the receiving end of all that cash is one of the chief weapons suppliers to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

In April, 10 lawmakers on both sides of the aisle wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel urging him not to do business with Rosoboronexport.

"Russia continues to transfer weapons through Rosoboronexport to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria," the congressmen wrote.

The Pentagon proceeded with the plan regardless.

One of the most glaring vulnerabilities in the Afghan security forces is their inability to match the air support that the U.S. and other coalition partners have provided for the last 12 years.