Half of US arms to Iraq 'missing'
Since 2003, the US has spent about $19.2bn to develop Iraqi security forces[EPA]6 August 2007
The US government cannot account for large amounts of weapons and armour given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US congress, said.
At least 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armour and 115,000 helmets are missing.
According to the GAO, the Pentagon has agreed with the findings and begun a review to ensure full accountability for the programme that aims to train and equip Iraqi forces.
"Our review of the 2007 property books found continuing problems with missing and incomplete records," the report said.
Approximately 54 per cent of the total weapons distributed to the Iraqi forces are said to be unaccounted for.
'Flexibility'
The US government cannot account for large amounts of weapons and armour given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US congress, said.
At least 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armour and 115,000 helmets are missing.
According to the GAO, the Pentagon has agreed with the findings and begun a review to ensure full accountability for the programme that aims to train and equip Iraqi forces.
"Our review of the 2007 property books found continuing problems with missing and incomplete records," the report said.
Approximately 54 per cent of the total weapons distributed to the Iraqi forces are said to be unaccounted for.
'Flexibility'
The report comes ahead of a review of US military operations that may pave the way for a reassessment of the US role in Iraq.
A senior Pentagon official has told The Washington Post newspaper that some weapons were probably being used against US troops.
He said that an Iraqi brigade, created in Fallujah, had disintegrated in 2004 and had begun fighting American soldiers.
Since 2003, the US has spent about $19.2bn to develop Iraqi security forces.
The US defence department has recently asked for another $2bn to continue the train-and-equip programme.
According to the GAO, the government had funded the programme for Iraqi security forces outside traditional security assistance programmes, providing the Pentagon with a degree of flexibility in managing the effort.
The report has further stated that "since the funding did not go through traditional security assistance programmes, the DoD [Department of Defence] accountability requirements normally applicable to these programmes did not apply".
Source
A senior Pentagon official has told The Washington Post newspaper that some weapons were probably being used against US troops.
He said that an Iraqi brigade, created in Fallujah, had disintegrated in 2004 and had begun fighting American soldiers.
Since 2003, the US has spent about $19.2bn to develop Iraqi security forces.
The US defence department has recently asked for another $2bn to continue the train-and-equip programme.
According to the GAO, the government had funded the programme for Iraqi security forces outside traditional security assistance programmes, providing the Pentagon with a degree of flexibility in managing the effort.
The report has further stated that "since the funding did not go through traditional security assistance programmes, the DoD [Department of Defence] accountability requirements normally applicable to these programmes did not apply".
Source
Labels: Iraq, United States
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 6:01 PM
4 Comments:
this actually makes me sad to read. Number one and foremost, the article calls it a "programme"
No American or any native american english speaker would refer to anything as a "programme"
bunch of crap so called program maybe, but not
"programme"
The article is odd...to english speaking americans
"
Anonymous,
Sounds like to me you need to broaden your horizon’s to other people in the world beside just America, I wonder if you realize; that the British speaking people in the world do write in this manner.
You are right! I guess what I was trying to say is that most americans would diregard a report written by a non american, hesitant that it was not accurate.
I beleive that this article you have is not news in american media is because it wasnt written by a native american journalist. However me reading it through the british or whatever dialect the facts are still there. sorry!
Now isnt saying that opening a can of worms :)
Anonymous,
No need for sorry and the article did not come from the American media. In doing this blog I give credit to a number of global sources, because there is a lot of very good journalist; as well as news you will not find in the American media.
As for lack of accuracy, this sounds more like a bias opinion, I am sad to say.
If people are going to learn what is going on in the world today, we need to appreciate all that is in the world; as well as it’s people. For in doing this and gaining understanding, maybe one day we will once again learn to appreciate each other.
I did not understand what worms in a can, has to do with what you was speaking about.
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