Posted on 02/07/2018 7:31:40 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
US report confirms nine Abrams tanks ended up with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Nine Abrams tanks the United States had provided to Iraqi forces for the battle against the Islamic State (IS) are now in the hands of the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, a US military audit confirmed.
A quarterly inspector general report for the US mission in Iraq and Syria, released on Feb. 2, confirms that M1 Abrams battle tanks and other lethal equipment provided to the Iraqi government by Washington have ended up with the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
“The US Department of State acknowledged that some US-provided military equipment sent to support the mission, including as many as nine M1 Abrams tanks, had fallen into the hands of Iranian-backed militias that fought against [IS] in Iraq,” the report read.
The report added that the Department of State pressed the Iraqi government to prioritize the return of defense articles provided by the US as designated in the sale agreements.
In late January, Iraq-based al-Ghad Press claimed that American company General Dynamics, who produces the Abrams tanks, had suspended its maintenance program in Iraq over the Hashd al-Shaabi’s possession of one of the US-made tanks.
“The US tank company [General Dynamics] withdrew from its base in Baghdad’s al-Muthanna airport after finding out that Iraq violated the terms of the contract which only authorized the Iraqi army to use the US provided tanks,” the report stated.
Al-Ghad Press also said the company had threatened “a final withdrawal” from Iraq if it was proven that Iran, which backs the Hashd al-Shaabi, had reproduced the tank.
However, when asked to confirm the reports, a State Department official told Kurdistan 24, “The Abrams maintenance program for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is still currently active, and there is no plan to discontinue it in the near future.”
Meanwhile, the inspector general report added that “Iran continued to exert influence in Iraq through its relationships with some Shia militias belonging to the PMF.”
Its OK, everyone still got paid.
They managed to keep some F-14s flying, though what good they were, who knows?
I pray for the Kurd People every day. The only semblance of Law in the Middle East.
May Jews, Christians and every denomination protect the Kurd from extreme Islam.
Erdogan believed in Obama, he is now flat footed thinking Hillary would win.
Just another ignorant tyrant and leftist fool.
Obama, making our enemies great again...
They were export models and the Russians have already seen those through the Egyptians. Egypt buys Russian aircraft and American tanks. Russia has no need for another one.
Having spent ten years working on the Abrams tank I can fill you in on few fun facts. They need maintenance and the parts GD made are colossally expensive. However, the Koreans stole the entire data package and sell the same parts significantly cheaper and to anybody.
Incidentally, their are two reasons GD’s parts are so expensive. One is, no competition, so there is no incentive to make them cheaper. And, Two, the contracts are larded up with social agenda things like maintaining a diversity program. ISO-9000, the required quality standard, is also a multi-million dollar gift to consultants when Mil-9858 worked just fine.
It won’t be easy to copy the armor. But copying the electronics will be easy. It’s all old school.
“For all I know, ISO-9000 sounds like a bunch of social engineering package. “
The theory sounds good; say what you do, do what you say and prove it. In practice, the way it is implemented, it’s more important for upper management not to get a “finding” than it is to produce products that meet the requirement. So, the whole process gets diluted. For example, because GD never trained anybody to do anything, workers often didn’t know what document they were supposedly following. They were simply sat at a table and told by somebody what to do. That results in a “finding” which directly subtracts bonus money from high level management. Instead of dozens of say-what-you-do documents, they reduced them all to one document which essentially said nothing. As long as you were following a document, even though it was not helpful in any way, you don’t get a finding. Gradually, a good quality system was reduced to useless garbage. But bonuses as the top are GREAT! Millions of dollars are paid out yearly to consultants who come in and don’t find “findings.”
As far as management is concerned, this is much better than the old quality system that frequently stopped non-conforming product from shipping.
They managed to keep some F-14s flying, though what good they were, who knows?
“What is the deal with “empowering employees?” “
Corporations are as fashion conscious as teenage girls. They clothe themselves in the latest corporate fashions. GD got what is called a 360 degree review package. That’s where the employees get to rate the managers. The package was very expensive. They had it modified so that no employee could rate a supervisor.
As our division financially imploded I presented my boss with several well thought out proposals to turn the situation around. Finally, in disgust, he threw one in my face and yelled, “We don’t have an employee suggestion system. That’s because we don’t give a crap about what you think!” (I got a paper cut and a lesson.)
“US report confirms nine Abrams tanks ended up with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq”
Aha, just as Obama planned it! Next thing you know the Iranians will have a bunch of our B 2’s with nuclear weapons.
PS. How do you lose a tank?
“US report confirms nine Abrams tanks ended up with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq”
Aha, just as Obama planned it! Next thing you know the Iranians will have a bunch of our B 2’s with nuclear weapons.
PS. How do you lose a tank?
“McCain is wondering why the fuss”
McCain is wondering who AM I? Where am I? What’s this warm/wet feeling in my drawers?
So much for our Korean friends.
Shouldn't be hard to find if the morons try to use them.
Should be fun to rescue the tanks, each surrounded by a few acres of koranimal body parts...
Go! A-10s...!
There. Fixed it.
No way! Each of those puppies cost us $7 million.
Better to locate them, give our commandos and Special Forces AND A-10s experience in obliterating the camps or towns where they are found, and seriously depleting the supply of ugly koranimal virgins by several tens of thousands...
Volunteers for the rescue would work best.
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