Losing track of guns, losing track of Iraq?

[rodeodance]

August 2007, 15:46 GMT 16:46 UK
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Losing track of guns, losing track of Iraq?
As the Pentagon is accused by US auditors of losing track of 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to the Iraqi security forces, the BBC's Nick Childs considers what this means for US strategy.


This report is particularly embarrassing for the Pentagon, in part because the plan to train and equip new Iraqi security forces has been so central to its strategy in the country.

And, while it has been alleged before that weapons bound for the Iraqis have gone missing, the numbers in this report are striking.

The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which is an independent US government agency that is essentially the watchdog and investigative arm for the US Congress.

The GAO says that, of some 185,000 assault rifles and 170,000 pistols that the Pentagon says it supplied to the Iraqi security forces, it can account for less than half: there is a discrepancy of 110,000 in the case of AK-47s, and 80,000 pistols.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6933569.stm

[BOSSHOG]

1. Not to pile on or be tacky or anything

but the General in charge of training the Iraqis when this episode occurred was Petraeus.

so we are supplying the enemy weapons to fight our kids in bush's war. No wonder conservatives are too proud or too ignorant or too embarrassed to admit their failures.

[zabet]

2. Intentionally lost, onto the black market probably.

Ever watch "Lord of War"?

[NeedleCast]

3. Same Thing Happened in Afghanistan

We supplied the Northern Alliance warlords with guns, fuel, ammo, spare parts and they turned around and sold half of them on the black market, often to people we ended up fighting. It's a catch-22. You have to give the Iraqi army that we're training weapons, but when they turn around and sell them, there's not much we can do (other than get the hell out).

Part of it is just the different ethics in different parts of the world. What we'd consider grand theft here in the states, they consider business as usual.