One of the points emphasized in the “No End in Sight” documentary, which is excellent, is that through carelessness, the Bush administration inadvertently helped provide weapons to the Iraqi insurgency. The most well known example was the debacle at Al Qaqaa, but as we learned in March, the administration’s faulty planning left millions of tons of munitions unsecured, which helped arm insurgents with materials needed to make, among other things, roadside bombs.
As it turns out, the Bush gang’s carelessness not only provided insurgents with munitions; the administration may have inadvertently helped put AK-47s in the hands of insuregents, too.
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 author of the report from the Government Accountability Office says 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. The highest previous estimate of unaccounted-for weapons was 14,000, in a report issued last year by the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Wait, it gets worse.
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 H. Petraeus, who now commands all U.S. forces in Iraq.
Remember, in most circles, it’s still considered outrageous and irresponsible to question Petraeus’ competence.
What’s more, the problem has reached a point in which U.S. forces don’t know what to do about it.
“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 are 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.
Stohl said insurgents frequently use small-arms fire to force military convoys to move in a particular direction — often toward roadside bombs. 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 inadvertently play a role. “We know there is seepage and very little is being done to address the problem,” she said.
Ugh.