Audit shows US Army “misplaced” over $1 billion worth of arms that was to be transferred to Iraq and Kuwait – PB/TK
U.S. Army Lost Track of $1 Billion Worth of Weapons and Equipment – By Michele Gorman / May 24 2017
The U.S. Army failed to properly monitor more than $1 billion worth of arms transfers in Iraq and Kuwait, according to a declassified government audit obtained by Amnesty International released Wednesday.
“This audit provides a worrying insight into the U.S. Army’s flawed—and potentially dangerous—system for controlling millions of dollars’ worth of arms transfers to a hugely volatile region,” Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s Arms Control and Human Rights Researcher, said in a statement.
Amnesty obtained the documents through Freedom of Information law requests. The group’s research documents lax controls and record-keeping within the Iraqi chain of command, which has resulted in arms manufactured in the U.S. and other countries winding up in the hands of armed groups known to be committing war crimes and other atrocities, such as the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
In response to the audit, the U.S. military has pledged to tighten its systems for tracking and monitoring future transfers to Iraq, according to Amnesty.
Continue to newsweek.com article: http://www.newsweek.com/us-military-lost-track-1-billion-worth-weapons-and-equipment-report-614391
