It's like raihiyhiyaaaaain......

I don't see what throw-rugs have to do with any of this.

Crates of cash in Iraq and equipment in Afghanistan. America, fark yeah!

If it works...

According to the article some of the military officers and personnel are buying back some of the equipment (probably with their own money).

Is there any reason why they can't just steal it back? Or at least rob for the supplies...

FTA:
Other thumb drives showed soldiers' home addresses, work histories and religion. Detailed pictures and diagrams pointed out key instruments of the Apache helicopter, used in Afghanistan. Soldiers outlined the faults of a new ground mobility vehicle designed for the Special Forces.

wowza.

FTFA

"Smuggling off military bases has always been common in Afghanistan. Fuel trucks have been hijacked on their way into the country from Pakistan. Some goods bound for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, end up in the compounds of government officials, said an ISAF official, speaking on condition of anonymity."

It's a good thing we don't deal with terrorist training countries such as Pakistan.

A market just a few yards away from Bagram's front gate is a smugglers' paradise. Here, it's possible to buy soldiers' stolen iPods and "Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom" mugs for half as much as inside the gates."

Don't you love to smell the distribution of consumerism in the monring?

Why spend money domestically when you can buy over priced pieces of equipment crap from other countries, pay to send it half way around the world, then let somepne steal it. Finally you buy it back at half the price.

Think of all the taxes we are raking in!

Don't you love to smell the distribution of consumerism in the monring?

Why spend money domestically when you can buy over priced pieces of equipment crap from other countries, pay to send it half way around the world, then let somepne steal it. Finally you buy it back at half the price.

Think of all the taxes we are raking in!

Americans love paying twice.

Sorry, didn't mean to copy. Html is farking up.

Sounds like somebody is doing a heck of a job. Keep up the good work.

DoWhatNowToWhat: It's a good thing we don't deal with terrorist training countries such as Pakistan.

You know, that's probably the biggest reason that I, as a Pakistani, hope that Obama's the next US President.

The terrorist problem we have now in Pakistan seems to have arisen, at least in part, because of the half-assed US effort in Afghhanistan, and the spillover of militants across the border after they've had their asses handed to them by NATO forces. If Obama follows through on his promise to draw down in Iraq and bring the focus back on Afghanistan, that'll just be a win-win-win situation for all parties involved, including Afghanistan.

That, and our government's been cutting a lot of suspicious "deals" with militants lately, and an Obama presidency would probably be better placed to explain in crystal-clear terms that this type of behaviour isn't entirely acceptable.

Just once, I want to hear a report coming from the region saying that the U.S. has some good news, like we found a handful of unicorns. Something like that would be refreshing.

This is retarded. For all the money that goes over there they sit there and let this happen.

FTA: "It's possible," said one of the Americans with a shrug.

This is part of the reason right here. Even though its happening the military command don't care enough to stop it. One of these days something really important is going to get stolen then people are going to lose their jobs. (My money is on a M1 or Bradley)

That's unpossible. We have this war down to a science, and there simply aren't any holes in our spectacularly effective security architecture.

*tries to keep a straight face*
*tries harder*
*even harder*

At the market outside Bagram in late May, the Tribune found shops selling everything from army medical kits to small computer memory devices, known as "thumb drives" or "flash drives," containing military records, soldiers' Social Security numbers, maps and other documents labeled with security warnings.


Wow. I think some officers need to face Court Martial.

Nothing changes I see

I remember a training exercise in Turkey (back in the day) and theft was big problem to the extent that my squad leader actual fired at some of locals trying to steal some of our gear (didn't really try to hit any of them just scare them off)-almost a big international incident. The Turks were pretty open about the theft.

When Clark AFB in the Phillipines was still open some of the fence posts around the base were concrete and some were metal. As th locals would steal the metal posts the Air Force would replace them with concrete ones.

A story relayed to me by a guy stationed there was that the local community's road grader had broken down so they asked to borrow one of the Air Force's. In the spirit of good community relations they lent them the grader. After a couple of weeks the Air Force asked for it back. The locals said the Air Force would have to come out and tow it back in as it had broken down. Turned out they had taken parts off of it to fix their road grader.

(Threadjack) I was listening to the radio on the way back to my apartment the other day, and our local right-wing talk radio blowhard (Eastern Washington, Pullman, any names?) talking about how the Taliban was effectively dead.

God, the cognitive dissonance that I keep hearing from the right wing drives me nuts. (/Threadjack)

Approves

My favorite was when a small UAV got stolen and found its way to some insurgent group.

Why? Cuz we have these shipping around everything in Afghanistan.



Thats called a jingle truck. They "jingle".

We also have guys like this...



trusted to transport materials that you or I would be required to have a top secret security clearance just to go anywhere near.

helluvaway to fight a war

Khabi715: (Threadjack) I was listening to the radio on the way back to my apartment the other day, and our local right-wing talk radio blowhard (Eastern Washington, Pullman, any names?) talking about how the Taliban was effectively dead.

God, the cognitive dissonance that I keep hearing from the right wing drives me nuts. (/Threadjack)

Maybe not dead but forced to change:

Link (new window)

Taliban Moving At Half Speed This Year

May 14, 2008: Afghan and security forces waited, and waited, for the Taliban Spring Offensive, but it never came. Gun battles with the Taliban were down 50 percent so far, compared to last year. Roadside bomb attacks were about the same. But Taliban casualties were up, as more Afghan and NATO forces went looking for them. Last year, 8,000 people died in Taliban violence. So far this year, the death toll is 1,200, indicating casualties for the year will be about half what they were last year. This year, a higher proportion of the dead are Taliban and al Qaeda, and a lower proportion civilians. While some Taliban commanders have tried to develop new tactics to reduce casualties (smaller units of Taliban, and avoiding contact with police and troops), nothing has worked. The Afghan army is larger (76,000 troops) and better trained than last year, and there are more foreign troops. Worst of all, more tribal leaders have sided with the government this year, meaning tribal militias are also ready to fight Taliban moving through previously pro-Taliban territory.

This year the Taliban switched to terror bombings, and threats against civilians. The suicide bombing campaign has not been very successful. This year's threats involve demands that civilians limit cell phone use, stop watching TV and shut down schools for girls. None of these demands were very popular, and nothing much happened except in areas where the tribal leaders were too scared to stand up to the Taliban. This depended more on tribal politics than anything else. The Taliban movement has always been about tribal politics, with ambitious, and often religious, tribesmen seeing the movement as a way to work themselves into a tribal leadership position. That meant more money, as well as more power.

More Taliban and al Qaeda are being captured, and this provides more information on the state of the terrorist forces, and what their plans are. For example, police recently intercepted a car, rigged as a car bomb, as it was being driven from Pakistan to Kandahar. The driver was paid $150 to deliver the explosives filled car to Kandahar. He, like the three other terrorists in his escort car, were Pakistanis doing it partially out of religious conviction, and partly because it paid well. Over half the Taliban in Afghanistan are from Pakistan.

Al Qaeda has been more prominent in the Afghan fighting this year, and have been taking more losses. Afghan and NATO commanders were taken by surprise when a pro-al Qaeda website reported that one of their leaders, Abu Suleiman al Otaibi, had been killed recently in a battle with foreign troops. Until last year, al Otaibi had been sought in Iraq, where he was a known leader of terrorist forces. But many al Qaeda leaders and technical experts have departed Iraq in the last year. Some have "retired" (gone inactive, and into hiding), but most of those who have disappeared from Iraq have been showing up in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The ones who come to Afghanistan find themselves constantly under attack by Afghan police and foreign troops. In Pakistan, the Taliban is trying to arrange a ceasefire with the government, and negotiate safe havens from which Islamic terrorists can operate against the Afghan government. The Taliban leadership is taking a beating in Afghanistan as well, and also want a safe place to hide out.

hasty ambush: Khabi715: (Threadjack) I was listening to the radio on the way back to my apartment the other day, and our local right-wing talk radio blowhard (Eastern Washington, Pullman, any names?) talking about how the Taliban was effectively dead.

God, the cognitive dissonance that I keep hearing from the right wing drives me nuts. (/Threadjack)

Maybe not dead but forced to change:

Link (new window)

Now see, that appears to be some actual good news. In the war I supported, no less. I suppose that things eventually have to go something approaching right, right?

Khabi715: Now see, that appears to be some actual good news. In the war I supported, no less. I suppose that things eventually have to go something approaching right, right?

He's telling you exactly what you want to hear.