Millions' worth of gear left in Iraq

[Bozita]

Source: WaPo

Millions' worth of gear left in Iraq
Pentagon eases rules Officers air concerns, citing Afghan effort

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 7, 2009


BAGHDAD -- Even as the U.S. military scrambles to support a troop surge in Afghanistan, it is donating passenger vehicles, generators and other equipment worth tens of millions of dollars to the Iraqi government.

Under new authority granted by the Pentagon, U.S. commanders in Iraq may now donate to the Iraqis up to $30 million worth of equipment from each facility they leave, up from the $2 million cap established when the guidelines were first set in 2005. The new cap applies at scores of posts that the U.S. military is expected to leave in coming months as it scales back its presence from about 280 facilities to six large bases and a few small ones by the end of next summer.

Some of the items that commanders may now leave behind, including passenger vehicles and generators, are among what commanders in Afghanistan need most urgently, according to Pentagon memos.

Officials involved say the approach has triggered arguments in the Pentagon over whether the effort to leave Iraqis adequately equipped is hurting the buildup in Afghanistan. Officials in the U.S. Central Command, which oversees both wars, have balked at some proposed handovers, and previously rejected an approach that would have granted base commanders even greater leeway.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/06/AR2009120602689.html?hpid=topnews

[waterscalm]

1. up to 30 B from EACH facility. WHOW!!

[high density]

17. million, not billion.

[struggle4progress]

2. "... Well, come on, Wall Street -- don't move slow: why, man! this is war au-go-go!

There's plenty good money to be made supplying the Army with the tools of the trade ..."

[The Wizard]

12. Don't know if it's true

But some reports indicated the all the weapons the U.S. left in Vietnam made them the fourth largest military force in the world. Since we pulled out our combat troops in 73, the equipment was left behind for the South Vietnamese government that lasted only two years after our military departure.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. ebay.co.iq - 'great deals... drab colors'

no I didn't check - there there one?

[No Elephants]

4. Up to $30 million from each facility. Who will be doing the appraising?

I think $30 million from each facility may be code for, "If you can't fit it into your duffel bag, leave it in place."

Will this be accunted for as part of the cost of the Afghan War, or will we pretend it's just part of the cost of Dummya's having taken "our eye off the ball in Afghanistan?"

Do we know that the Iraqi government is prepared and staffed sufficiently to take control of all this stuff, or will be actually arming the thugs in the local populations (the ones we've been bribing) and Al Q'aeeda in Iraq (which no doubt overlaps with the the thugs in the local populations that we've been bribing)?

I thought getting this big, very, very dangerous stuff out of Iraq was one of the reasons we could not simply withdraw from Iraq?

Oh, wait. That's millions from each facility. Any number that starts with an "m" or a "b" is just chump change these days. Not even worth posting about.

War sure is confusin', ain''t it?

[EFerrari]

5. This is so crazy. We need those vehicles for families who lost their homes.

[Jamastiene]

6. So, THERE are the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Finally, they found them...and left them in the hands of whoever gets their hands on them first.

I feel soooooo safe now. :sarcasm:

[cowcommander]

7. Business as usual

The military has been doing this wasteful crap since WW2 when they dumped millions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment into the ocean after the war ended. The system there is all about wasting equipment to justify the big budget they get, because if they start getting thrifty and not wasteful, their budget gets cut.

[No Elephants]

11. As WWII ended, we were not starting a surge a couple of blocks away and weapons and equipment in

the ocean was not going to get used against our troops a month later. Also, getting our expensive equipment out of Europe and the Pacific was never cited to American voters as reason we could not withdraw from war in Europe and the Pacific. Further, our ability to transport in 2009 is different from our ability to transport over a half century earlier. Finally, repeating something that happened once before in a very different time and place and under very different circumstances does not make anything "business as usual."

Besides, the fact that something may have been done in the past does not mean it was a good idea when it was originally done or that it is a good idea now. So, I am not sure of your point.

BTW, on googling, I found something about our having dumped chemical weapons into the sea (ill advisedly) after WWII and through about 1970. I also found mention of the oceans' containing ships that had sunk and planes that had been shot down. I could not, however, readily find any support for a claim that we had ever intentionally dumped into the ocean (or anywhere else) equipment and conventional weapons of the kind we will be leaving behind in Iraq, though. Can you provide a link?

[Lasher]

8. If you're a base commander in Iraq with orders for Afghanistan, you have choices.

Do you salvage that 2 year old generator and take it with you to Afghanistan? Or do you give it away so that there will be a shiny new one waiting for you when you Kabul?

Decisions, decisions.

[Solly Mack]

9. K&R

snicker

[dipsydoodle]

10. Well - it's only your tax money they're giving away.

:sarcasm:

[MindPilot]

13. Billions to Iraq and Afghanistan

while my city and state are fucking broke. :mad:

[high density]

14. How much would it cost to transport the stuff out?

I am guessing big bucks.

"In many cases, we'll spend more between labor and transportation than the equipment is worth," Brig. Gen. Bayer said.

[saigon68]

15. He will retire soon and SWILL at the Corporate Director TROUGH

[high density]

16. OK, that covers the messenger

How about the content of his message itself? People act as if this equipment is all sitting in pristine form on a pallet in a port somewhere when in fact it's going to take a lot of manpower and money to ship this stuff back. Then the next outrage is that the government is spending more money to ship old stuff than it's worth.

[Statistical]

18. +1. When I was in Iraq most equipment was used hard.

Air conditioners and generators don't last long with the fine dust clogging machinery.

The idea that we would spend hundreds of dollars to transport a used beaten down AC unit to Afghanistan only to find out it was broken in transit (do you think soldiers save ever shipping carton) or breaks shortly after transport is downright stupid.

When our unit left Iraq nobody was replacing us at our barracks. We turned over lots of non military equipment to the Iraqis. Never saw a problem with it.

[mopinko]

22. stop talking sense.

don't you know where you are?

[RedSock]

19. kind of like the way they use the troops

... use them up until they don't work any more, then toss them aside and get new ones.

[Javaman]

20. oh for fuck sakes...

The thousands of soldiers who will never come home, they weren't wasted? And the pallets of our money that vanished into the ether wasn't a waste? The no bid contracts weren't a waste? The billions spend on rebuilding iraqi schools and infrastructure that were never built, wasn't a waste? the showers that electrocute solders, weren't a waste? the sewer lines that leak in Badr city, wasn't a waste? the total destruction of priceless artifacts from the Baghdad museums, wasn't a waste? $100,000 plus a year for each merc, isn't a waste?

Fuck, where the hell should I stop?

leaving behind vehicles and supplies is so low on the expense scale when contrasted against the real waste, that it's fucking comical that the author even brings it up.

fucking bullshit spin. How soon we forget.

damn it, to all fucking hell.

[Blue_Tires]

21. well the contractors are happy -- they get to sell us everything all over again

at a price increase....

[BennyD]

23. I would rather leave equipment than men! n/t