$1 billion in equipment unaccounted for in Iraq

[Pred]

Ok, so I was flipping through the channels just now and on Fox News they were talking about how there is $1 billion worth of weapons that can't be accounted for in Iraq.... How do you lose $1 billion worth of firearms.. How is this possible?

[Rem 742 30-06]

no it was more than firearms they were big vehicles like 12 tow tanks and stuff like that which still makes me wonder how do you lose 12 of those while we are thinking about it how do we lose one.

[Pred]

Ok, so thats even worse. How do you lose 12 tanks?

[Rem 742 30-06]

They said they blamed on bad book keeping or something like that but come on they are these huge things you think they would see them or something.

[Pred]

Tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, crates of machine guns and rocket propelled grenades are just a sampling of more than $1 billion in unaccounted for military equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces, according to a new report issued today by the Pentagon Inspector General and obtained exclusively by the CBS News investigative unit. Auditors for the Inspector General reviewed equipment contracts totaling $643 million but could only find an audit trail for $83 million.

The report details a massive failure in government procurement revealing little accountability for the billions of dollars spent purchasing military hardware for the Iraqi security forces. For example, according to the report, the military could not account for 12,712 out of 13,508 weapons, including pistols, assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and machine guns.

[HandsomeRob]

Originally Posted by Pred

Ok, so thats even worse. How do you lose 12 tanks?

I saw David Copperfield make an elephant disappear once, so maybe they've got rebel magicians over there? J/K I heard the elephant thing on an episode of X-Files today. You would think that at least one person would be watching the stuff. Was it an over the entire war thing or did they wake up one morning and $1,000,000,000 worth of stuff was gone?

[CrazyIvan]

There are under-the-radar reports that the US government has been stockpiling military weapons and equipment underground at Area 51 since LBJ was president. It is said they are doing this in case the American Public decides to have another Revolution.

Why do you think our government doesn't care anymore if they defy the people?

Why do you think they keep making up these stories so we can "go to war" ??

[Dan22]

They were probably diverted for some Black Ops somewhere else.

The American public doesn't need to know a day by day accounting of what we have and where it is.

Maybe, just maybe, the enemy is watching CNN trying to expose our government's secrets and wouldn't it be terrible if they couldn't get this info so easily.

[Windwalker]

I agree that the general public doesn't need a day by day accounting but the Inspector General needs to start investigations immediately if the various military departments can't account for all of it.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by Dan22

They were probably diverted for some Black Ops somewhere else.
The American public doesn't need to know a day by day accounting of what we have and where it is.
Maybe, just maybe, the enemy is watching CNN trying to expose our government's secrets and wouldn't it be terrible if they couldn't get this info so easily.

Why would the Pentagon put out the info at all, if that were the case? Why wouldn't they they just keep their mouth shut instead of lying to us?

Black Ops, my fanny. More like Black Hole...

[HandsomeRob]

Originally Posted by CrazyIvan

There are under-the-radar reports that the US government has been stockpiling military weapons and equipment underground at Area 51 since LBJ was president. It is said they are doing this in case the American Public decides to have another Revolution.

Why do you think our government doesn't care anymore if they defy the people?

Why do you think they keep making up these stories so we can "go to war" ??

The scary part is that sounds about right to me and now with bills like H.R. 1955 in effect they could "justify" their actions. I mean the Declaration of Independence states " That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Which basically means when your government starts taking away your right that our founding fathers fought and died for that those who have the ability have the responsibility to change or remove the government and create a new government that doesn't impose on these rights. Our founding fathers broke free and fought for a government that was just and uncorrupted. Yet if citizens now a days were to fight back against our government they could be deemed as homegrown terrorist. I mean do we really need a huge discussion about what the right to bear arms means? If you look back to the colonial times its should be quite oblivious. I think were slowly loosing our rights and the government is making illegal to do anything. Back it those days if there was a problem there would be a mob and torches, Today we write a letter to our congressman. I'm sad to see what our country has come too after knowing what it used to be. Just my 2 cents

[Spurzmaker]

Laughing,,, I was just thinking of all the movies of Vietnam, and Korea, where the supply sarg's were shipping these home jeeps in pieces, putting them back together when they got home, and selling them on the black market.

Uhh, Dude, "I'll take a low mileage hummer with the fifty", and can you make that to go?

[Gio]

I have them all!

[Mooseman684]

Could it be Iraqi Sand traps ??? Or is it that "giant sucking sound" Ross Perot was talking about...

[Coeloptera]

Gosh, with fine people like Blackwater and Halliburton working over there with no-bid contracts and next to no oversight, how could anyone accuse the Pentagon of financial mismanagement?

Honestly, I cannot imagine under what circumstances I could conceivably trust the Iraqi military to keep track of anything we give them. I shudder to think of what's falling into the hands of extremists on both sides of the Sunni/Shia fight.

But since the POTUS wanted a blank check, why should anyone care if any money is wasted? Not like the Dems are clamouring for accountability in any real way.

- Coeloptera

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by CrazyIvan

There are under-the-radar reports that the US government has been stockpiling military weapons and equipment underground at Area 51 since LBJ was president. It is said they are doing this in case the American Public decides to have another Revolution.
Why do you think our government doesn't care anymore if they defy the people?
Why do you think they keep making up these stories so we can "go to war" ??

When did this become the Guns and Paranoia Forum?

Why would the government need to stockpile weapons in the middle of the bleeping desert in case of a revolution? I think they already have armories which contain more than enough weaponry and ammo to do the job, assuming they could talk American troops into killing Americans wholesale...

Obviously we need to keep a tight grip on our civil rights, and stay vigilant. But too many people on here believe the government we ourselves vote into office is the real enemy. Do you honestly have that much contempt for your fellow Americans, both as office holders and as voters? If enough people start sharing that attitude, what's left of democracy might as well be flushed down the toilet.

[CrazyIvan]

T2000,

Yes...More and more, I see lies, corruption, buy-offs taking place within our government.

We are thrust into wars by lies and corporate pressures.

Our government does not protect us. They randomly spy upon us without reason, in the name of "Patriotism" and they have demonized word "Vigilante" making it into something evil. They continue to wear the working man's wallet thin. They refuse to keep our country sovereign. They defy our liberty, refuse our justice and have made it so that criminals attain a higher respect for their rights than we do as law-abiding citizens.

The government lists us, names us and keeps us on tab as mischevious, though we have done nothing to deserve it.

Government documents are stolen, kept classified indefinitely and destroyed to keep the American public from the truth.

Large corporations such as Haliburton pressure our government to stay in war so that they may make Billions upon Billions of Dollars.

Our government caters to big business, special interest groups and ignores the core heart of this country, it's working citizen. The government pawns our international federal companies to foreign ownerships. They allow terrorists and evil to run rampant upon our city streets, while they hand out parking tickets to people who are trying to lead and earn an honest living.

Our government condones murder. Our government tolerates an invasion of our country by foreign nationalists, while they prosecute, persecute and imprison those who would fight against it.

So, you ask me if I believe our government is corrupt, full of lies, and if I do not trust them. Then YES, MY ANSWER IS YES!

And I ask you to tell me what I have said here is paranoia. IT IS FACT!

[Coeloptera]

Originally Posted by troy2000

When did this become the Guns and Paranoia Forum?

Why would the government need to stockpile weapons in the middle of the bleeping desert in case of a revolution? I think they already have armories which contain more than enough weaponry and ammo to do the job, assuming they could talk American troops into killing Americans wholesale...

"I said the crowd is unarmed! Zhere are lots of vimmen und children down zhere! All they vant is food for God's sake!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.

- Coeloptera

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by troy2000

When did this become the Guns and Paranoia Forum?

Why would the government need to stockpile weapons in the middle of the bleeping desert in case of a revolution? I think they already have armories which contain more than enough weaponry and ammo to do the job, assuming they could talk American troops into killing Americans wholesale...

A very good point, troy2000. It is unlikely that they could.

One of the less well known stories from the days when Slick Willy was the buffoon in the Oval Office has to do with exactly that. After he and his evil henchmen managed to get the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban passed, a survey was quietly done of 10,000 Marines. The principal question was, "If an Executive Order was issued ordering the confiscation of privately owned firearms from American citizens, would you carry out the order?"

I think the pollsters were astonished when virtually all the Marines replied, "No." (I think the liberal left views the United States Marine Corps as being about one step removed from the SS, just with prettier uniforms; and mostly not overly bright.)

When asked why, the Marines' answers boiled down to, "Our oath is to the United States Constitution, not to whoever happens to be president. Such an order would be illegal, because it contravenes the Constitution; and we would not obey it."

There seems to be a perception that just because the Marine Corps' primary mission is assaulting enemy-held positions, that they do not know how to think; or that they are not educated about what they are fighting to defend. It's not the case. The business of lawful vs unlawful orders is discussed in boot camp, in the Officers Basic Course, and at Command and General Staff School. Marines mostly aren't lawyers, but they do understand about the rule of law in this country. And personally, I think that puts them ahead of most of the so-called lawmakers with both trotters in the public trough.

[CrazyIvan]

Originally Posted by troy2000

I think they already have armories which contain more than enough weaponry and ammo to do the job, assuming they could talk American troops into killing Americans wholesale...

Waco, TX.