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Originally posted by Mach1
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Sounds about right :-D
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Fair enough! -
Here’s all the US military equipment that likely ended up in Taliban hands
A windfall for the Taliban.
The Biden administration admitted on Tuesday that the Taliban had captured a significant amount of U.S. military equipment originally supplied to Afghan security forces during the militants’ blitzkrieg on Kabul in recent weeks — and the U.S. doesn’t know exactly how much American gear they’ve lost to terrorist hands.
“We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during a press conference. “Obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport.”
Indeed, photos published by newswires like the Associated Press and circulated on social media by eyewitnesses to the Taliban sweep of Kabul show militant fighters touting M4 and M16 rifles, M24 sniper rifle systems, and M2 .50 caliber machine guns. Other footage showed night vision goggles, radios, and magazine pouches apparently seized from Afghan outposts during the Taliban offensive, which also saw militants seize military vehicles like Humvees and MRAPs.
While Sullivan did not specify what a “fair amount” of defense materials entailed, he had previously blamed the members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) for laying down their arms before the Taliban onslaught, stating that the U.S.’s $86 billion in funding over the last two decades “could not give them the will and ultimately they decided that they would not fight for Kabul.”
At the moment, there’s still a lot that senior U.S. officials don’t know about American weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban. But based on past reporting from U.S. government watchdogs, the militant group may have inherited a broad arsenal of American weapons from the hands of fleeing Afghan security forces.
According to a 2017 Government Accountability Office report, the U.S. military transferred roughly 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons systems, and 208 aircraft to the ANDSF between fiscal years 2003 and 2016. And according to a recent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction analysis, the last few years have seen the Defense Department send the ANDSF more than 7,000 machine guns, more than 4,700 Humvees, and more than 20,000 grenades. This is to say nothing of the communications, explosive ordnance disposal, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) equipment transferred to the ANDSF over the course of two decades as detailed in the GAO report. According to the Intercept, the Taliban have even seized U.S. military biometrics devices “that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces.”
That American weapons are falling into the hands of the very militants they were intended to kill is nothing new. A 2016 Pentagon audit revealed that poor record-keeping and regulations had allowed nearly half of the 1.5 million weapons provided to Iraqi and Afghan security forces since 2002 to go missing, including nearly 978,000 M4 and M16s, while a 2014 SIGAR report found that some 43 percent of weapons provided to the ANDSF likely ended up in the hands of groups like the Taliban or ISIS. There is also plenty of ammo missing from former Afghan government stockpiles.
That said, not all of this captured gear will see combat again. Captured UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters the Taliban paraded on social media during the group’s march on Kabul, for example, are both unflyable and outright unsustainable due to a lack of training, spare parts, and logistics required to operate such advanced equipment, as Defense One astutely noted on Friday.
Still, the overwhelming volume of American small arms and other weaponry captured from Afghan military outposts by the Taliban is still a major propaganda victory for the group, if anything. Indeed, the militant group has taken pains to parade captured U.S. military gear — including rare weapons like the U.S. special operations forces FN-SCAR — in videos showcasing their capabilities. Several Taliban fighters had American-made weapons on display when they were pictured sitting in the presidential palace.
When pressed on the matter of U.S. equipment falling into enemy hands on Friday, prior to Kabul’s fall, the Pentagon appeared unprepared to address the potential issues. “We are always worried about U.S. equipment that could fall into an adversaries’ hands,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said at the time. “What actions we might take to prevent that or to forestall it, I just simply won’t speculate about today.”
But days later, when asked if U.S. troops were taking action “to prevent equipment from falling into the hands of the Taliban by destroying it” during a Tuesday press conference, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Joint Staff provided a dismally simple response: “I don’t have the answer to that question.”
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Last edited by GhostTX; 08-19-2021, 01:16 PM."Self-government won't work without self-discipline." - Paul HarveyComment
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The whole military equipment thing is a bit of a strawman. We have been handing out equipment to any swinging dick over there for years. It is part of the fleecing of the American taxpayer. I'm sure a M4 with an ACOG sight costs the government $10,000 (or some amount even more obscene) and every time they hand one out they order another one from Bushmaster or who the fuck ever. I saw one of the Taliban on ABC news today with that M4.Originally posted by racrguyOriginally posted by racrguyComment
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They should have put some no gun zone signs around the area. That should help curb the violence.Comment
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"Self-government won't work without self-discipline." - Paul HarveyComment
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Confidential Sources: President Trump offering his resources to support the rescue of stranded Americans!
@FoxNews
@seanhannity
"Self-government won't work without self-discipline." - Paul HarveyComment
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So when yall think biden steps down as potus so the brown woman VP can take it and make history? I'm thinking their little pea brains think the 2 year mark is the best idea.WHComment
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He has to hit the 1/2 Mark so she can do his 2 and run for 2 terms . But it will not happen . Republicans want him there and neutered in 2022 .Comment
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12 Service members killed!Comment
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And not a word from the executive branch in 22 hours. Hopefully China or Iran can help us get Americans out because Joe Biden sure as hell won't.Originally posted by silverranger View PostComment
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Really really fucked up that politics have now cost us additional servicemen. Fuck these political hack scumbags.Comment
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Yep! He won't do shit to the ones that have killed our troops!Originally posted by BP View PostComment
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Maybe if we send them a Billion dollars they will be nice to us? Let's try that.Originally posted by stevoComment
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While the haphazard pull out is definitely Bidens fault the real blame for the 20-year war in Afghanistan lies solely at the feet of Donald Rumsfeld. Our military objectives were met shortly after we invaded and the Taliban wanted to negotiate, Donald Rumsfeld's ego and hubris is what kept us in the war for another 20 yearsMagnus, I am your father. You need to ask your mother about a man named Calvin Klein.Comment
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