Posted on 06/04/2015 11:52:20 AM PDT by RC one
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reported Sunday that 2,300 American Humvees were captured by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Just a day later, media reports emerged that some of those very armored vehicles had been used in a suicide bombing.
According to Agence France-Presse, al-Abadi admitted the loss in an interview on state TV. “In the collapse of Mosul, we lost a lot of weapons,” he said. “We lost 2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone.”
The Humvees were lost when ISIS forces overran Mosul last year, forcing Iraqi soldiers to abandon tons of equipment during their retreat from the city. Angelo Young, writing for International Business Times, calculated the cost of the lost Humvees at $1 billion.
“The theft of a fleet of American-made military vehicles underscores the difficulty of ensuring that U.S. military aid doesn’t wind up in the hands of the enemy it’s aimed at defeating,” Young wrote on Monday.
On Monday, the day after al-Abadi admitted to the massive loss of Humvees, ISIS used some of those Humvees to kill Iraqi security forces. According to a CNN report, two Humvees were used to block the entrance to a Iraqi security forces base near Samarra, before a tank loaded with explosives detonated inside the compound, killing at least 34 and wounding dozens. Later reports increased the death toll to at least 42.
Despite the repeated losses of U.S. equipment to ISIS forces, the United States continues to supply Iraq with more weapons and vehicles. According to the AFP wire story, “Last year, the US State Department approved a possible sale to Iraq of 1,000 Humvees with increased armour, machine-guns, grenade launchers, other gear and support, which was estimated to cost $579 million.”
The value of those Humvees is nowhere near $1 billion. That’s $460,000 each.
Aren’t Humvees armored and pretty much bomb-proof?
I mean, won’t these digbats blow themselves up INSIDE the humvee, while outside people will be saying: “What was that? Did you hear that?”
I suppose when you figure in the cost of the up armor, the turrets, the weapon systems, the radios, and other equipment, that’s probably not too far off. It’s beside the point though really. This is the biggest military debacle in American history.
This make me ill.
Nope that number is actually below replacement cost. The cost to Iraq in Dec 2014 was $579,000 per vehicle.
http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product2759.html
In a word, no. Hell, they're not even really bullet-proof, either, without the armor add-on.
Up armored Humvees aren’t bomb proof, they are resistant to small arms fire. Again, it’s beside the point.
Although al-Abadi and other Iraqi and U.S. officials haven't attached a dollar sign to the lost weaponry and vehicles, a back-of-the-envelope calculation of those losses might look something like this:
•2,300 Humvee armored vehicles @ $70,000 per copy. Total: $16 million
•40 M1A1 Abram tanks @ $4.3 million per copy. Total: $172 million
•52 M198 Howitzer mobile gun systems @ $527,337 per copy. Total: $2.7 million
•74,000 Army machine guns @ $4,000 per copy. Total: $29 million
The grand total comes to $219.7 million, but experts say those losses represent a fraction of the many hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of U.S.-supplied military equipment that has fallen into ISIS's hands and is being used against the U.S. and allied forces on the ground in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
I find it kind of hard to believe that the government only pays 70 grand per up-armored Humvee personally.
This incident is baloney.
What the heck were they doing with 2300 HMMWVs at this place? They didn’t have drivers? It takes one person to drive one.
This is just more Obama Administration baloney.
The Obama Administration traded HMMWVs for captured CIA employees at Benghazi. Now, they are paying the Iraqis to provide a cover story for their defeat at Benghazi.
Free The Benghazi 40!!!
Fixed it!
Didn’t have to “capture” them, they were a gift.
Too bad we didn’t install killswitches.
Hmm, but the value of something, and what the government pays for it aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Should have put LoJack on them, so they could be tracked and bombed.
•2,300 Humvee armored vehicles @ $70,000 per copy. Total: $16 million
•40 M1A1 Abram tanks @ $4.3 million per copy. Total: $172 million
•52 M198 Howitzer mobile gun systems @ $527,337 per copy. Total: $2.7 million
•74,000 Army machine guns @ $4,000 per copy. Total: $29 million
•Killing infidels with weapons they paid for: Priceless
So, they couldn’t hop in said vehicle and flee it in if that were the case. Or did they want ISIS to get all the gear they left behind?
sigh..
Think I'll spend a l'il more quality time at "the bench" crankin the handle this weekend, FWIW. d:^|
Obama sure is stupid. He is the stupidest Democrat we've ever seen, and believe me, you have to plumb the depths of stupid to be a Democrat.
What, were they parked in Ray Nagin's bus barn?
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