The US has lost track of about 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces since the 2003 invasion, some of which will have ended up in the hands of insurgents, according to an official report published in Washington. Among the missing items are AK-47 rifles, pistols, body armour and helmets.
The disclosure adds to the picture of the chaotic and clumsy administration of Iraq that has emerged over the last four years.The report, by the government accountability office, which sent its report to Congress last week, found a 30% gap between the number of weapons issued to Iraqi forces and records held by US forces in Iraq. No one in the Bush administration knows where the weapons are now.
The 20-page report ... says the Pentagon and the multinational force in Iraq responsible for training "cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armour and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi forces as of September 22 2005".
I suppose that anyone can misplace the odd AK-47, but how do you lose track of 110,000?
1 comment:
Iraq, land of cuckoo clocks, Teutonic efficiency, and fastidious paperwork. Wait a minute, that's somewhere else I'm thinking of.
Anyway, here is an interview with Petraeus where he is asked about these arms.
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/06ae3d3e-5267-403e-a5d3-1c64a33a4968
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