US destroying billions of dollars worth of their military hardware in Afghanistan!

Operation Junkyard: US scrapping 'tons' of equipment as Afghan exit looms

As the US military prepares to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan next year, it is deliberately destroying billions of dollars worth of sophisticated equipment, according to The Washington Post.

The US military is confronted with the logistical problem of what to do with millions of pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment presently parked in Afghanistan, where the United States is winding down a nearly 12-year military operation.

Instead of donating the equipment to the fledgling Afghan security forces, who are expected to keep the peace following the US pullout, or perhaps selling the equipment to some third-party nation, the US will engage in a “massive disposal effort, which US military officials call unprecedented,” the Washington Post reported.

In total, the US military will not be shipping home “more than $7 billion worth of equipment — about 20 percent of what the US military has in Afghanistan — because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to ship back home,” the report continued.

....and all this to fight a rag-tag group with no tanks or airforce...that fights with cheap AKs and RPGs and Ieds??! Incredible.

According to the Post, donating all that military equipment to the Afghan contingency “would be challenging because of complicated rules governing equipment donations to other countries.” At the same time, there is concern that Afghanistan’s fledgling forces would end up shooting itself in the proverbial foot with all that lethal hardware lying around.

So lets see, the US invades Afghanistan, topples the Taliban, installs a new government under Karzai, trains the Afghan army......

...and then after 12 years of fighting the Taliban, decide to hold peace talks with them on their terms, while scrapping tons of military hardware that could have just as well gone to the Afghan National Army, which the Americans / NATO themselves helped raise up?

The logistical problems involving transporting the tons of military equipment in Afghanistan is one thing



But citing “complicated rules governing equipment donations to other countries.” as an excuse as to why it cant be handed/donated/sold to the Afghan National Army, that the US invaders themselves installed and trained.... is simply preposterous. Do those rules also apply to Syria, where the US is "donating" certain kinds of equipment?

You know something is badly wrong when the US would rather destroy military hardware instead of letting their puppet government/army have it.... while at the same time planning peace talks with the very enemy they invaded Afghanistan to get rid of. Something is clearly amiss here... and this isn't getting a fraction of the coverage it should on most news channels.

All that talk about helping Afghanistan and helping establish an Afghan army as a counterweight to the Taliban was all one big farce.

In Afghanistan, the US has failed on three fronts... militarily, politically and financially.
Taliban literally went from a mud house to an office in the richest state in the Gulf approved by the US... and from a rag-tag group labelled as terrorists to a government in exile.
And all this at the cost of billions of US taxpayers dollars.

Related thread : US to hold direct peace talks with Taliban

Makes sense not giving it to the people they put in power, they usually end up fighting the same people give a decade or two. (If history tells us anything...)

This is Vietnam all over again. Blow it up, throw it overboard, bury it....what ever. God forbid that our government tries to be efficient with our money. This sucks ass. We paid up the ass for it, just to throw it away like an empty coke can.....so we can buy it again when what ever need arises.

what a waste of our lifes blood.

Originally posted by tadaman
This is Vietnam all over again. Blow it up, throw it overboard, bury it....what ever. God forbid that our government tries to be efficient with our money. This sucks ass. We paid up the ass for it, just to throw it away like an empty coke can.....so we can buy it again when what ever need arises.

what a waste of our lifes blood.

That post sounded just like your avatar would say it. Well put. What's 7 billion to them. They just have to take an extra 22.00 bucks from each of us when we pay our taxes so no sweat off their backs.

It seems quite logical to me. Destroying it all is sensible! If you need it again at some time in the future you have to buy it again. If the Afghan Army wants it, they can buy a new one. You don't give the stuff away!

You all need a lesson in business 101. This is gold! Now they can make the stuff, sell the stuff and then blow it up before it is even used! Great! Everyone, dance, dance the profit dance!

Makes perfect sense to profit minded individuals.

P

here is another article that is better from the washing post.

from page 2 of the article

A situation unlike in Iraq
The U.S. Army owns the lion’s share of the military equipment currently in Afghanistan. As of May, Mason said, $25 billion worth of equipment was deployed with Army personnel. After an analysis of needs and costs, it has decided to ship back no more than 76 percent. Transporting that much will cost $2 billion to $3 billion, the Army estimates. And repairing the gear that comes back will cost $8 billion to $9 billion.

Scrapping equipment key to Afghan drawdown

so i see no problem with what is happening. within six months after we leave, the taliban will be back in charge again. and the last thing anybody wants or needs is a bunch of poppy grownin , goat heardin, islamic fundies ridin around in armored personal carriers.




ETA: if you know any thing about how this works, you would know that what is being destroyed is the equipment that is already in disrepair. they take the damaged stuff that is in the worst shape first and then move on to the next that is damaged.

They aren't giving it to the Afghan national army because the cold bastards know what is about to happen when the US has the bulk of and then all forces out of the nation. Karzai's Government will fall, and nothing much will stop that. The Taliban won by attrition just like Vietnam and it'll end that way.

They aren't leaving anything they don't basically want to hand to the Taliban or have become theirs within 6-9 months of our being gone. Makes sense to me on that point.

Afghanistan is where Empires go to die. It's how the place was described before the U.S. laid eyes on it. It's how it'll be described going forward. Why anyone thought we'd be different or special is beyond me. We should have learned by what the place did to the Soviets.

I swear its almost as if they have no oversight and are just wasting
our money, like they don't have a budget to consider, almost like they
just don't care, oh wait.........

reply to post by tadaman
Oh but the money that lines the pockets of the "MIC" and friends, that made all the Bush era contracts, the next Gen will be more money lined by life's blood spilled.

Originally posted by pheonix358
It seems quite logical to me. Destroying it all is sensible! If you need it again at some time in the future you have to buy it again. If the Afghan Army wants it, they can buy a new one. You don't give the stuff away!

You all need a lesson in business 101. This is gold! Now they can make the stuff, sell the stuff and then blow it up before it is even used! Great! Everyone, dance, dance the profit dance!

Makes perfect sense to profit minded individuals.

P

Business 101 is staying out of the RED

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Probably true but as standard procedure a lie must be told.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

They aren't giving it to the Afghan national army because the cold bastards know what is about to happen when the US has the bulk of and then all forces out of the nation. Karzai's Government will fall, and nothing much will stop that. The Taliban won by attrition just like Vietnam and it'll end that way.

They KNOW that the Taliban won this war.... and they know they will take over in a few decades.
Which is why it makes better sense to destroy their hardware.... instead of entrusting it all to an installed government they know was temporary.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


The only thing I think I disagree with there is time frame. A few decades isn't realistic as Afghanistan isn't ruled by the niceties of election and law when the West isn't there to enforce it. They have their own way as I suppose we just have to deal with and let them do as they're going to do it. We tried the other route and it's made it worse.

I fully expect to see the Taliban continue to push their position right up to the point U.S. Forces are gone and then lay on the full effort to take Kabul back in the continuation of what we interrupted in 2001. Their ongoing civil war. I wonder what's become of who used to form the Northern Alliance? They didn't come out on top for Government as Karzai is more on the warlord/substance export side of life there. It won't be pretty though....the aftermath. Just like Vietnam in that respect too, I'll bet.

A lot of that equipment could be sold to the ANA and other regional allies. It could also be repurposed for civilian markets in the US. They could more than make their money back going down this route. But it's not my job to tell the brass they are being stupid.

I am always ready to condemn actions that I believe to be incorrect on the part of the US government. However, being highly interested in military matters, and studying all aspects of war from ancient times to the present, I can understand this decision by the US military. In fact, this exact type of destruction of equipment was seen after every major conflict the US has been involved in since at least WWII. There are tanks, jeeps, and even missiles at the bottom of the Atlantic today, all remnants of this type of destruction. Your argument is that this equipment should be left to the Afghan forces. Let's discuss this proposition.

Logistically speaking, the ONLY viable option for the removal of equipment is by air. But much of the hardware we are talking about is HUGE. There are so many large troop transport vehicles, vehicles designed to clear IED's, which are so HEAVY it is ridiculous, as they are designed to take the brunt of an explosion. Removing this much weight by air is not impossible, but it would require so many flights that the fuel expenditures are ridiculous. We are talking billions of dollars. And despite the ample room available on modern transport planes, room goes very quickly with equipment of this size and weight. A plane may not be able to fill up completely due to weight constraints. Saying it would be a challenge is an understatement.

Why not leave all of this equipment to the Afghan forces. Simply put, they cannot be trusted. Equipment given to their military and security forces today, could easily end up in the hands of a terrorist group tomorrow. It is really that simple. Not to mention the fact that there are some pieces of hardware with technologies that we would not want them to have. Why? Not only because terrorists will get their hands on it, but because other countries could get their hands on it as well. Certain aspects of technologies must remain in US hands only, to prevent potential enemies from developing contingencies based on that technology, thus putting the US at a potential disadvantage in a future conflict.

And another huge reason that the US does not give away this equipment is that they have learned their lesson from previous wars. We armed and equipped the Mujahadeen, for instance, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and they turned around and used the same equipment against the US. They also got Soviet equipment that was not destroyed or removed after that war as well. The main reasoning is that a military does not want to have to fight against an enemy that was equipped by us. That is just dumb, and bad strategy. So they are using foresight in my opinion.

The region is simply too unstable for the US to give equipment of this nature away. The situation is Syria is different for one main reason. The equipment and weapons we are giving them is not as advanced as what the US military uses. The equipment in Afghanistan is modern stuff that we would use in a modern war. That is what one does not want in enemy hands. But a conflict such as that in Syria, where we are arming rebels, is different. There is not the same amount of heavy equipment and hardware, for one. So we could give these guys old M16's from the Vietnam era, or AK's that are in the US arsenal, because they are not going to be used by US soldiers. But we are not going to give them tanks, for instance, or other hard equipment.

reply to post by projectvxn


You have some background with military matters, as I recall. I'm really curious to ask and have no idea the answer here so it's really pure curiosity.

What is the realistic situation for getting any large % of the equipment out in just a matter of months? I mean, it's land locked, so no RO/RO ships this time around. I'd imagine Pakistan has no interest in seeing endless columns of U.S. equipment rolling back through it's highway system as much must have come in piece meal over a decade or more? Tajikistan isn't much better diplomatically or logistically for that kind of "parade", right? (The symbolism would be too much for anyone to take I'd think, too).

Would stuff beat up in a desert campaign be worth the cost to fly out on cargo planes from there?

Hundreds of thousands are going to die in that nation after we leave, I'm thinking. Scores of 'collaboration' to settle, as the Taliban will/does think of it. I guess we just don't want ANA Bradleys or Humvees with guns in the turrets featured for the world media when that comes.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


Why not just ship it to Israel and save ourselves some military aid dollars?
Or sell the non lethal stuff to those that need it?
I will never understand the want for waste!
With the amount of need in the world we waste resources with debt dollars!

I had the feeling this would be the case for several years now. What else could they do with billions of pounds of equipment.

Fly it out? Takes to long at to high a cost. Send it back through Pakistan? Remember the problems with them getting much of it in? And that's when we were somewhat friends. Now ... they might like to see it happen that way, so they could 'confiscate' it along the way.

No. I think this is the proper thing. In other words ... "Last one out, light the fuse".

Heres why....

The US has alot of hardware in Afghanistan being the main ISAF contributor

And the reason why the US is dismantling rather than giving or selling it to the Afghan forces and pulling out of Afghanistan is simple

The US and other ISAF countries in Afghanistan got sold out and stabbed in the back by the Afghan Government

As you all know alot of resources have been discovered in Afghanistan over the past few years and are to be mined very soon by countrys like China & Russia and other countries that otherwise refuse to play a part in ISAF operation dealing with security, and lastly the fact most of those countrys a no friends of western countries.

The Afghanistan government give alot of contracts to China to mine nearly a trillion dollars worth of Lithium, and other resources

Why are western country going to supply the security for the massive mining operations for China to make billions and making it easy for China to mine?, it would be easier to pull out, bring our troops home, and safeguard our countries from home and let China supply the security for there massive investments and watch the Taliban take back over the country to make it very difficult to mine a single batteries worth or Lithium

Bottom line is it was a royal piss take and shortly after the Afghanistan government announced who would get the contract to mine there now safe country, ISAF announced it would PULL OUT 2014 and then Osama Bin Laden was found and killed

Nobody see that one then,

Its absolutely NOTHING to do with the US & Co not being able to fight the Taliban, the Taliban haven't engaged ISAF forces in fire fights for years unless they have been ambushed or forced back out of a village, because they simply get hammered to hard in every exchange

ISAF troops are then ordered to pull back out of those villages to which the Taliban go back in to at night and regroup, after the troops once again pull back as commanded, this is how the operation in Afghanistan has gone down for over 10 years and its no secret with ISAF troops left scratching there heads at there confusing tactics

These tactics tell you one thing, and one thing only.. that ISAF commanders are not pushing for an all out victory in Afghanistan, there simply prolonging an all out victory and playing with the Taliban for a reason, and that reason "was" to keep ISAF forces there to supply stability and protection for the mining contracts they expected to get handed to them from the government they installed

How comes nobody has wondered why the ISAF zones and Taliban controlled zones haven't changed over 12yrs because its certainly not because they couldn't capture them, its because they didn't want to, they needed a threat to exist for them to over sea the huge mining operations, because as soon as the troops pull out the Taliban with come back out of hiding and attack mining operations

But anyway

I guess that is China's job now

Its no wonder the US wants to befriend the Taliban now as they will need to supply them with arms to fight China soon

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
They aren't giving it to the Afghan national army because the cold bastards know what is about to happen when the US has the bulk of and then all forces out of the nation. Karzai's Government will fall, and nothing much will stop that. The Taliban won by attrition just like Vietnam and it'll end that way.

They aren't leaving anything they don't basically want to hand to the Taliban or have become theirs within 6-9 months of our being gone. Makes sense to me on that point.

Afghanistan is where Empires go to die. It's how the place was described before the U.S. laid eyes on it. It's how it'll be described going forward. Why anyone thought we'd be different or special is beyond me. We should have learned by what the place did to the Soviets.

Yep history repeating itself.When the US leaves the Taliban would have a first class arsenal in a few weeks.But there must be a way to recoup at least some of the loss.