Posted on 12/07/2009 1:33:20 PM PST by markomalley
Even as the U.S. military scrambles to support a troop surge in Afghanistan, it is donating passenger vehicles, generators and other equipment worth tens of millions of dollars to the Iraqi government.
Under new authority granted by the Pentagon, U.S. commanders in Iraq may now donate to the Iraqis up to $30 million worth of equipment from each facility they leave, up from the $2 million cap established when the guidelines were first set in 2005. The new cap applies at scores of posts that the U.S. military is expected to leave in coming months as it scales back its presence from about 280 facilities to six large bases and a few small ones by the end of next summer.
Some of the items that commanders may now leave behind, including passenger vehicles and generators, are among what commanders in Afghanistan need most urgently, according to Pentagon memos.
Officials involved say the approach has triggered arguments in the Pentagon over whether the effort to leave Iraqis adequately equipped is hurting the buildup in Afghanistan. Officials in the U.S. Central Command, which oversees both wars, have balked at some proposed handovers, and previously rejected an approach that would have granted base commanders even greater leeway.
U.S. commanders in Iraq say they have been judicious in assessing what equipment to earmark for donation. Alan F. Estevez, a deputy undersecretary of defense, wrote in an e-mail that "an important and vital goal is to leave behind fully functioning bases to the Government of Iraq to enable Iraq's civil capacities."
But a U.S. military official critical of the process said the new regulations allow too much latitude to commanders, provide little oversight and fail to account for the urgent need of American forces in Afghanistan, which need the same kinds of items...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
True. I don’t like the fact of just giving it away, though.
I am told that after World War 2 shiploads of jeeps and tanks were dropped in the ocean to save the cost of bringing them home, and to prevent their sale in the US from keeping automotive sales from being high.
Even with the Alaska pipeline, perfectly good heavy equipment hauled up there at great expense was sold for sub-scrap value because bringing it back to the lower 48 wasn't cost effective.
So much for caring about our economy, saving money, and well, protecting our interests.
My Daddy still talks about the Cat dozers driven off the wharfs and piers in the south Pacific at the end of WWII.
He was a Seabee.
Aside from the cost of shipping them back, they didn’t want to flood the market with used equipment and depress sales of new dozers.
Let the Iraqis get what use out of the stuff they can.
Called booking out in the old days, leaving equipment behind. Damn, shows what the military command thinks of the tax payers hard earned dollars.
Am I the only one here that doesn’t see this as a problem?
Look, if we want the Iraqi Army to be able to stand up to al-Qaeda, Iran, and Syria, then the sooner that we can equip them, the better. If it means giving them old hand-me-downs instead of shipping them back to the US where old equipment probably would have been recycled/sold as surplus anyway, that’s fine with me. In a perfect world, the Iraqi MoD would be paying market value, but considering that they are still in the developing phase, you can’t expect that yet.
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Another FReeper pinged that the sand would wreak havoc on their lifespan anyway.
Good common sense post!
I was a kid when the WWII vets returned. One guy said that they had a ball driving brand new 4x4 trucks off the LST ramps into the Pacific. The current Conspiracy Theory was that the govt didn't want to undermine the automakers at home.
Yes, and doubtful that they have put in much (or are leaving behind) of anything that is “new” in the past 3 or 4 years.
Yeh man We foot the bill AGAIN. The Iraqi’s should pony up or at least give us some free oil. Then the Rats would be partially right about us getting the oil but as of now they remain the deceitful liars about the Iraqi war.
‘Zactly. :)
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