Spoils of war for sale in Pakistan border town

Associated Press ^ | 2 hrs 31 mins ago | Associated Press writer Heidi Vogt

[shredderman]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – In this town along the road to the Afghan border, you can buy U.S. Army gear, computers and manuals instructing soldiers how to avoid roadside bombs. Traders are coy about where their stock comes from, but much is stolen from trucks carrying military supplies into Afghanistan.

Not only does the trade include materials of potential value to insurgents, it also illustrates the challenges of securing supply lines into landlocked Afghanistan, a task underscored in recent days by the closure of the main route through Pakistan and subsequent fiery attacks on convoys.

[shredderman]

I just saw this and it's making my blood boil!!!! You should see the pictures of some of the things they are selling...to say nothing about what one Taliban muckety-muck is driving around!!!! OK, Mr. Obama, this needs to be fixed, NOW!!!!

[Seruzawa]

Nothing new. The same thing went on in Vietnam. You need look no further than corrupted supply people to find the source.

[SamuraiScot]

Traders are coy about where their stock comes from

Oh they are? After being found with stolen goods? That's not really a problem.

Just one word: waterboard. It won't even matter whether the source is found. It will dry up the incentive to sell the stuff.

And if the members of the supply chain are found, the antiseptic can really be applied: public hanging for the traders, firing squad for any GIs selling stuff.

[Melchior]

This time let us loose the dogs of war and lay waste to the Afghan-Pakistan borderlands — BOTH SIDES OF IT.

[SMARTY]

Theft and smuggling.... it’s typical of that part of the world. Maybe theft and smuggling are the second and third oldest professions.

[Steel Wolf]

This is an ugly secret, but our supply lines have been utterly vulnerable for years. Pak mil, bandits on the road, thieves at the docks, you name it. We turn a blind eye because we don’t have a choice. What we do to keep the supply lines safe once they cross into Afghanistan is even more shameful.

Supply lines are the arteries of an an army, and ours run right through some very unfriendly hands. Stuff like this comes with the territory of not controlling the territory.