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

reply to post by TDawg61

But there must be a way to recoup at least some of the loss.

Well, we could load them into the back of cargo planes and drop out above Taliban/Al Qaeda positions. What is terminal velocity for an MRAP or Humvee? It would have to be a painful thing to have land on you like a cartoon ACME safe. Kill two birds with one falling ..ahem..stone?

Really.... I tried to resist. I did. No success though. It makes too priceless a picture. lol... It would at least save on ordinance being used occasionally now and save it for a future time it's more badly needed. Like when they figure out the Taliban won't let them keep so much as an Embassy by the time they get controlling power to dictate the terms.

please please tell them not to leave any computers or cell phones we know how that went in 2001 imagine what they could do in 2013 the free world would be at stake if the taliban got a humvee .

well they did manage to hit 4 buildings with 3 planes from a cave ?? if they get some advanced tech like satellite phones were xxxxxd

What does destroy really mean in this case?

Probably means to be rendered useless in the cheapest possible way. Who can say how much will be left, but I'm sure the metal wouldn't go to waste. Some stuff will be left to get stripped or somehow reused. I'm sure that the black market will get some of the best stuff scheduled to be destroyed.

But if we keep it, we wont have a need to buy more.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by TDawg61

 

But there must be a way to recoup at least some of the loss.

Well, we could load them into the back of cargo planes and drop out above Taliban/Al Qaeda positions. What is terminal velocity for an MRAP or Humvee? It would have to be a painful thing to have land on you like a cartoon ACME safe. Kill two birds with one falling ..ahem..stone?

Really.... I tried to resist. I did. No success though. It makes too priceless a picture. lol... It would at least save on ordinance being used occasionally now and save it for a future time it's more badly needed. Like when they figure out the Taliban won't let them keep so much as an Embassy by the time they get controlling power to dictate the terms.

Great.Now I'VE got that picture in my mind! Right from the Roadrunner/Wile E.Coyote school of warfare!And as crazy as the airmail idea sounds I wonder.Hmmm......

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n

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

edit on 22-6-2013 by sk0rpi0n because: (no reason given)

counterweight? help? when was it ever about that? and don't you think it would be rather hard for such a poor country to maintain, be trained to use and well, afford to be able use such equipment in such numbers? did you take into account their military size, budget, overall economy, etc?

Kinda off topic but that amount of equipment been wasted is unreal, as another posted stated all this to fight guys that have nothing but sheer determination and a few other odds and ends. its only America's toys that make them combat capable I think a lot of the average ground troops would have a big wake up call to there own abilities if they had to fight the their enemy with the same equipment been used against them.

As an old saying I heard when I played squash, people like winning all the time but winning all the time doesn't make you a better player, play against better people and loose more often is the only way to improve your abilities

It's too damned old.

The technological advances made over the last decade make most of this stuff obsolete.

I wonder how much of this stuff will go missing. The "new" rebels whoever they might be when found to be using US weapons - we will be told, can't be our stuff.. we destroyed it.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm not sure about the logistics of the matter. It is no surprise that after a more than a decade of military presence there that we would opt to leave some equipment behind. But to destroy so much of it? Makes no sense to me.

I'm just a lowly Blackhawk crew chief. I'm not sure what the reasoning is. A lot of equipment has been there to satisfy rotational deployments over time without having units bringing in more and more of their own gear. At least that's true for aviation units. I'm not sure about others.

TBH

It is a waste no matter which way you look at it...

I don't see why the US can't sell it to other ISAF forces that have helped or still have troops serving in Afghanistan

Albania
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Finland
Republic of Macedonia
Georgia
Ireland
Jordan
New Zealand
Sweden
Singapore
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mongolia
South Korea
Tonga

Pretty muich happens at the winddown of every war.

Given the anti US comments that President Karzai has been making lately, it doesn't surprise me that they don't want to donate this equipment.

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

Not really unprecedented. We did the same thing on an incredibly massive scale upon leaving the Nam. Tanks, jeeps, helicopters, trucks, artillery, mortars... uniforms, food stuffs, munitions... burned, blown up, demolished, dumped into the sea or sunk in rivers and streams...

Originally posted by redoubt

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

Not really unprecedented. We did the same thing on an incredibly massive scale upon leaving the Nam. Tanks, jeeps, helicopters, trucks, artillery, mortars... uniforms, food stuffs, munitions... burned, blown up, demolished, dumped into the sea or sunk in rivers and streams...

But you gotta know.. in time all that will have been dig up and someone is going to try to salvage some. It depends on how well you destroyed those things. A complete weapon could be put together out of parts.

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.

How true!

US has written its epitaph long ago by getting in bed with the anarchists.
US is a typical "Rakshas" kingdom according to three Vedic classifications of "Deva", "Manushya" and "Rakshas" kingdoms. It has been successful just as many other Rakshas kingdoms in the past. However Rakshas kingdoms do not last very long. They are doomed the day they are born.

People who are mesmerized by "advanced" technology USA possesses are fools. Gods's justice comes naturally, certainly and without fail. The Mughals descendants fell into acute poverty despite Mughals being perhaps the richest State on Earth at one time. The mad desire for absolute power is a path to hell.

No worries folks! There is always the possibility that some arms dealing, internationalist carpetbagger who has absolutely no allegiance to The United States of America will just sell and / or hand over some of it to the terrorists that are trying to overthrow the Syrian government.

I mean, it's not like someone will be monitoring whether or not all of it is being destroyed, right? Even if there was, sell a few Tanks or rocket launchers and give the yes man the coin and all will be fine. So there really is no need for your minds to be troubled my friends. ~$heopleNation

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.

Well said.
You reminded me of this.

reply to post by Black_Fox


That video breaks my heart..

How anyone could justify ditching a Huey like that...

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n
topples the Taliban