Saturday, February 14, 2009

US Military Equipment For Sale In Pakistani Open Air Markets

Humvees in care of contractors who were supposed to transport them to US troops in Afghanistan.

There is an interesting article on Military.com "US Gear Ending up in Pakistan Markets". You can find the entire article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/us-gear-ending-up-in-pakistan-markets.html?ESRC=eb.nl

Soap Box Ravings feels there are many ways US military equipment can get into the black markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In some cases it is sold by US troops for either drugs and/or money. The military makes every effort to combat this type of behavior but it seems to have continued on through the ages.

Another way equipment comes up missing is when troops are overrun or killed, their equipment is often removed by their attackers.

But Soap Box Ravings believes the most equipment disappears when contract personnel are used in place of US military personnel to transport and maintain control of US military equipment. One example would be the large number of vehicles destroyed in Pakistan recently while under the control of Pakistani watchman with no training and essentially no way to summon assistance when attacked. Now we were told those vehicles were destroyed, but what was removed from them prior to their destruction?

Over the years, government bean counters have placed contract workers throughout the entire military system, in all types of areas. They are not military people, they do not have the same background checks but they often have more access to vital equipment than the troops do.

Soap Box Ravings believes if we keep our equipment under US military control, less of it will be used against us.