Ahh, now I understand. This is the surge that Dr. Zaius General Petraeus and his employees at the White House keep babbling about. What they left out, is that the surge is going to be directed at the US, with weapons we provided, but didn't bother keeping track of. Novel way to support the troops, t'aint it? Someone is bucking for a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing - washingtonpost.com
The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.The highest previous estimate of unaccounted-for weapons had been 14,000, in a report issued last year by the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
The new report from the Government Accountability Office indicates the United States has spent $19.2 billion trying to develop Iraqi security forces since 2003, the GAO said, including at least $2.8 billion to buy and deliver equipment. But the GAO said weapons distribution was haphazard and rushed, and failed to follow established procedures, particularly from 2004 to 2005, when security training was led by Gen. David Petraeus, who now commands all U.S. forces in Iraq.
but wait, there's more:
The report also indicates that U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces from 2004 through early this year as part of an effort to train and equip the troops.Although controls have been tightened since 2005, the inability of the United States to track weapons makes it nearly impossible for the U.S. military to know whether it is battling an enemy equipped by American taxpayers.
“They really have no idea where they are,” said Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information who has studied small-arms trade and received Pentagon briefings on the issue. “It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors.”
One senior Pentagon official acknowledged that some of the weapons probably were being used against U.S. forces. He cited the Iraqi brigade created at Fallujah that quickly dissolved in September 2004 and turned its weapons against the Americans.
'Very little is being done'
Stohl said insurgents frequently use small-arms fire to force military convoys to move in a particular direction -- often toward roadside bombs that target troops and vehicles. She noted that the Bush administration frequently complains that Iran and Syria are supplying insurgents but has paid little attention to whether U.S. military errors play a role. “We know there is seepage and very little is being done to address the problem,” she said.
And surprisingly, the NYT got scooped - their article is bare bones. The Chicago Tribune republished Glenn Kessler's WaPo article on the front page, but the Times was too busy with the poor millionaires story, and unmasking Fake Steve Jobs to assign anyone to read the GAO report. Shameful for the so-called Paper of Record.
Weapons for Iraqis Are Missing, Study Says:
The Defense Department cannot account for 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces, a new report by government investigators says.
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