Probe Launched Into 500 Missing Nato Vehicles

Well here is my theory. It's possible that this could be a military tactic. Basically you flood a point with traceable equipment and map out the supply routes they take and if they merge, or intersect at any point, you have found a hot spot worth investigating. Of course, any well informed insurgent would look for tracking devices but there are other ways of mapping these routes via satellite and agents on the ground who could easily retro trace any equipment that they come across in the black markets, especially when they know what to look for.

It would be a great way to incriminate corrupt Pakistani officials or even track down terror cells within populated regions of Pakistan. Let's hope if this is the case that it pays off, wouldn't want to see my hard earned tax dollars go to waste. (again)

Oh by the way this is my first post on ATS, glad to be a part of the community!

reply to post by RequiemAgent


Honestly America never does something like that, mostly when something weird like this happens its never for the good of the people its always something dirty. 500 missing humvees to track down some cavemen? for god sake America has hyper technical probes that can kill you without you even realizing what the hell happened. And still they have to lure some guys with 500 vehicles it just doesn't add up.

It would be funny if the vehicles were taken by civilians and painted yellow with "taxi" on top, you would have a humvee taxi service. I can already imagine it, " ohh sir watch your head a 50 call can hurt.

reply to post by colloredbrothers


The vehicles aren't worth anything in one piece, that's why they'd be chopped up and the individual parts that could be reused would be sold.

Also I agree with you that it is a huge waste of money and resources, but if you think about it, compared to the money spent in the war thus far, it's a drop in the bucket.

reply to post by RequiemAgentThat's an interesting theory & welcome!
Hang on a sec tho. 500 vehicles? What insurgent would ever imagine that they could get away with stealing so much without being spotted? They'd have to know it was a set-up.

reply to post by colloredbrothers
They were tankers & supply trucks, not Hummers.
I like your taxi idea tho! "Yes sir, Mr Undercover Taliban sir, I can take you to Helmand. See, bullet proof too!"

reply to post by Bunken Drum


This is very true. We don't know for sure what happened to the 500 vehicles and it is unlikely that they'd all disappear in one swipe due to an insurgent raid. The way I see it, a couple things are possible. One as mentioned earlier in the thread is that they are being used in a covert military operation so they are still in our hands. The second is that it's possible that the covert operation is a way to get these supplies into insurgent control, aka a botched operation that isn't made public due to its "sensitive" nature.

More so I believe in the first option, but I'm just opening more doors for us to discuss. Another thing I'd like to mention is that I believe the tactic I mentioned in my first post, is actually being used but not probably so much in this incident. More so the previous incidents of burning and looting while the Pakistani road block was in place.

reply to post by RequiemAgent
I'm sure intel ops do attempt to track what happens to stolen gear. They'd be mad not to!
Another angle, on the smaller scale end of NATO gear ending up for sale in markets, is, I know a few ex/serving military &, from what I hear, if soldiers can get away with, they'll steal just about anything.