THIEVES RIP OFF U.S. WEAPONS AS SHADOW WAR IN SYRIA ESCALATES – By Nick Turse (The Intercept) / Mar 30 2023
Groups from ISIS to the Taliban have armed themselves — and even killed Americans and their foreign partners — at U.S. taxpayer expense.
THIEVES HAVE MADE off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in artillery equipment, unspecified “weapons systems,” and specialized ammunition meant for U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, according to exclusive documents obtained by The Intercept.
The thefts, which occurred on, or in transit to, far-flung U.S. outposts in the region, remain unsolved. They are just the latest evidence of a persistent problem that has allowed enemy forces from ISIS in Iraq to the Taliban in Afghanistan to arm themselves — and even kill Americans and their foreign partners — at U.S. taxpayer expense.
The previously unreported thefts illuminate America’s shadow wars in the region, where a U.S. contractor was killed and six other Americans were wounded last week in a suicide drone assault on a U.S. base in northeast Syria. The kamikaze airstrike on the outpost known as RLZ was one of roughly 80 attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria since January 2021 that the U.S. has blamed on Iranian proxy groups. President Joe Biden ordered retaliatory airstrikes in response to the latest attack “in order to protect and defend the safety of our personnel.”
CONTINUE > https://theintercept.com/2023/03/30/weapons-theft-syria-iraq/
