Weapons disappeared in a 'chaotic' Iraq

[sabra]

Source: UPI

BAGHDAD, Aug. 29 A top U.S. Army general said conditions were "chaotic" when tens of thousands of U.S.-supplied weapons disappeared in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. James Dubik, who runs the Multinational Security Command-Iraq from the Green Zone in Baghdad, talked to reporters Wednesday. He said there is no Army investigation -- yet -- into the disappearance because there has been no discovery of a criminal act.

Dubik said he couldn't even confirm whether there were 20,000 missing weapons, as reports have suggested. He said the figure could be less or it could be more.

...

In 2004 and 2005, "we can give you a rough number of what we handed out, but to track any individual weapon, that's a different case. I mean, in some cases, for example, commanders landed in helicopters during a fire fight and handed out weapons to Iraqi citizens who were willing to fight on behalf of the government."

Dubik later corrected himself to say the weapons were given out to Iraqi security forces, not Iraqi citizens.

"Those conditions, luckily, don't exist anymore."


Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/99700.html

[bahrbearian]

1. Can't investigate because its secret

Well then give us the documents... We can't because they are secret... Can you tell us anything ...No it's secrect.

[MetaTrope]

9. Were they these weapons?

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/24/ap4052736.html

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

There were times, huddled on the floor in solitary confinement with that head-banging music blaring dawn to dusk and interrogators yelling the same questions over and over, that Vance began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut.

He had thought he was doing a good and noble thing when he started telling the FBI about the guns and the land mines and the rocket-launchers - all of them being sold for cash, no receipts necessary, he said. He told a federal agent the buyers were Iraqi insurgents, American soldiers, State Department workers, and Iraqi embassy and ministry employees.

The seller, he claimed, was the Iraqi-owned company he worked for, Shield Group Security Co.

[rodeodance]

2. "because there has been no discovery of a criminal act."--How will they know

UNLESS they do an investigation!!

[soothsayer]

3. that's a secret, too

[DrDan]

4. I thought I heard some General close to Betray-Us was being

investigated . . .

[pinto]

5. "could be less, could be more". Echoes of Rumsfeld's "known unknowns".

Geez.

[wordpix]

6. "chaotic conditions" don't exist anymore? yeah, right. This just again points out what

everyone's been saying a long time---* had no plan. Commanders handing out weapons to people "willing to fight on behalf of the government" during a firefight? How could these commanders be sure those they're giving weapons to aren't the ones shooting at our troops? :shrug:

Sounds like chaos to me that never should have happened.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Nope, not at all. A period of "hunky-doriness" has descended over the land, and all is well

As John Cleese would say: "It's people like you what cause unrest."

[Just-plain-Kathy]

7. Weapons disappearing? This isn't the first time...

It's like we're funding and arming both sides.

[Earth_First]

8. Pardon me...however...

But as a part of IET training in the military, it was driven into every man and women that you know where your weapon is AT ALL TIMES. You never part with your weapon. EVER.

According to military regulations, a missing weapon is grounds for shutting down an entire post until the missing weapon or munitions have been accounted for. Period.

While the "chaos" of a combat zone may seem to be an acceptable surface excuse for any missing weapon; it completely undermines the basic tenant of training that any solider of the military has been trained to understand.

The fact that this involves not only 20,000 weapons (give or take...nobody really knows) but the fact that military brass are unable to account for these weapons; is completely inexcusable.

If any such responsibility should fall upon any member of the military for missing weapons, it is certainly an O-grade soldier.

These weapons went 'missing' in order to pay someone off.