Webloggin » Arms Given To Iraqis Have Gone Missing

190,000 small arms given to the Iraqi army have gone missing or should I say, more than likely stolen.

The top US military commander in the country, General David Petraeus, and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to report to Congress by mid-September on whether efforts to halt sectarian violence and return Iraq to viable self-governance were bearing fruit.

Creating efficient security forces capable of taking over counterinsurgency operation from the United States has been a linchpin of this strategy.

But in its damning report, the investigative arm of the US Congress said at least 190,000 small arms given by the Pentagon to these forces since 2003 in the hope of boosting their combat readiness were nowhere to be found.

The United States has spent about 19.2 billion dollars since the beginning of the war to stand up Iraqi security forces that are supposed to gradually replace US troops in providing security for the country.

This total, according to the GAO, included at least 2.8 billion used to purchase and transport weapons and other military equipment necessary to improve the Iraqi arsenal.

Part of the money was used to purchase and distribute to Iraqis by September of 2005 about 185,000 Soviet-designed AK-47 assault rifles and 170,000 pistols.

But now, the Department of Defense “cannot fully account” for at least 190,000 of these weapons, or more than 50 percent of the total, the report said.

Also missing were 135,000 items of body armor out of a total of 215,000, despite the fact that even some US soldiers lacked this life-saving equipment, particularly in the early stages of the war.