GAO Report: 200,000 Missing AK-47s In Iraq

The Skinny: AK-47’s Given To Iraqis Are MIA, GAO Report Says

(CBS)  The Skinny is Jennifer Hoar's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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The phrase “missing weapons” was so 2003.

Until now.

According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon has “lost track” of nearly 200,000 AK-47’s it had given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, the Washington Post reports. The inconvenience of this truth (pardon the Al Gore allusion there) is two-pronged. One, the Pentagon agrees that, indeed, these weapons are missing. Two, they also think that the erstwhile weapon contributions are also “probably are being used against U.S. forces.” Hello gift horse, let me see your mouth.

Hold The Phone (And the Gmail)!

On Sunday, President Bush signed legislation that “broadly expanded the government’s authority to eavesdrop” on Americans’ international calls and e-mails, the New York Times reports. Oh, and warrants need not apply.

A White House spokesperson said that the goal of the law is not to “go after Americans,” but to give the government more “flexibility in focusing on foreign suspects overseas.” However, some people familiar with this new law say that it goes beyond “small fixes” the Bush Administration said it needed to monitor terrorists overseas.

Bottom line: That clicking noise on your line to London may not be call-waiting.

They Can Do It; He Can Help

Completely switching gears, Chrysler is getting a new CEO. Robert Nardelli, the former chief of Home Depot, is the second auto industry outsider to take the reins of one of the Big Three makers, the Wall Street Journal says. Last year, Ford hired Alan Mulally from Boeing. In reporting on Nardelli’s hiring, both the WSJ and the New York Times use the phrase (or some permutation of it): “no more business as usual” in Detroit. Doubt they’ll be having fun and games, though.

Tuck In Your Elbows

If you were wondering why you felt like someone was sitting on your lap every time you flew on an airplane in July, USA Today has an answer.

The seven major air carriers reported “record percentages of filled seats” last month. While over-crowding was bad news for air travelers, the glut of business was welcomed by the airlines, who have to deal with higher costs for things like fuel. As executives count their cash, someone in row 23D is still waiting for his free pretzels.

Better Finish Your Bacon Now

The following is invariably something you’ve never heard before and never thought you’d hear: Norway is “at the forefront of a Europe-wide debate over piglet castration,” the Wall Street Journal reveals.

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[bennyblack1]

Let me tell you another thing about that clicking noise. It's also being used state to state. My mother's phone is tapped. And so is my Dad's. The US government has been tapping the lines for around 10 years, or more. That's when I started noticing it. And AT+T has been cooperating. So, all you guys that have been hooking your cell to your home phone, remember that when you travel using your cell phone, that every word you speak is being heard. And it has been for years.

[robertr121]

What military medal is awarded for surfing ?


Posted by Iceman_1960 at 06:25 PM : Aug 06, 2007


Surfing the internet looking for terrorists of course, you should know that, you naive nazi you.

[drummer94]

Let's see here. 200,000 at 300 bucks a pop=? There is a chunk of our change.

[drummer94]

I would just bet that some pfc's know where the AK"s are at. These boys are shooting back at 'em. Did HalliCheney have anything to do with this? Friggin slimeballs.

[finewoven]

But, still I think U.S. government oversight of operations in this war has been pitiful, perhaps you agree?
Posted by tribe at 06:54 PM : Aug 06, 2007

An article written and linked through Google was much more expansive on this point of accountability than this one. In fact, I was looking for a quote from senior administrative officials or the GAO that suggested that accountability simply wasn't part of the program. Yes I agree with this point.

[iceman_1960]

"What military medal is awarded for surfing ?"
- Posted by Iceman_1960 at 06:25 PM : Aug 06, 2007

"A deck of cards and a canteen from "Apocolypse Now". Both are presented by Robert Duvall."
- Posted by hungry1968 at 10:24 PM : Aug 06, 2007

----------------------

Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore: "You either surf or you fight."

Colonel Walter E. Kurtz: "I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight... razor... and surviving."

Kilgore: "What the hell do you know about surfing? You're from godd*amned New Jersey."

Kurtz: "I worry that my son might not understand what I've tried to be. And if I were to be killed, I would want someone to go to my home and tell my son everything. Everything I did, everything you saw, because there's nothing that I detest more than the stench of lies."

Kilgore: "If I say its safe to surf this beach, then its safe to surf this beach. I mean I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole f**king place! Charlie don't surf!"

Kurtz: "The horror... the horror..."

[me4prezz]

Great. Hand them weapons, teach them to fight and you are suprised that they are using those weapons and training to fight us when they don't want us there? That takes an Einstein to figure out. Good Grief!!!!

[stainpouch]

Do you suppose they used any of those 363 tons of 100-dollar bills to buy these weapons? Probably not%u2014why should they when both were so easy to steal?

Does this mean we won%u2019t be able to carry lighters on board airliners again?

[hungry1968]

What military medal is awarded for surfing ?

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 06:25 PM : Aug 06, 2007

A deck of cards and a canteen from "Apocolypse Now". Both are presented by Robert Duvall.

[mh4cbs1]

JAIL CHENEY and JAIL BUSH

They deliberately LIED us into this Needless Horrific War OF Terror. The blood of hundreds of thousands is on THEIR hands, including 3,650 US troops, who have been used as cannon fodder for the NeoCon's war for a New World Order.

Jail the murderous thugs, and VOTE OUT the spineless slimy complicit Democrats.

Support the Iraqi Unions who are saying NO (in spite of US arm twisting) to the passage of the Iraqi Oil Law -- which would give US corporations the control and profits from the Iraqi Oil Reserves.

[morris61]

200,000 weapons and 3 million rounds of ammo too right?This is a Permanent Occupation,nothing temporary about it,the more chaos the easier the lies are to tell about why "we" need to stay.They think most Americans are too dumb to figure this out,they want control of the Iraq oil,not just access.Just watch,18 months from now,they will be singing the same old song....

[jetranger7]

How Many of you Remember "IRAN-CONTRA" and the Arms for Drugs, and Drugs for Arms deals back in the 1980s Era, under then President Regan and VP-Bush Sr. ? The Contras , and the Sandnistas,sounds like the same thing happening all over again, and I'll bet the same crew is back in business again, look whos in office now, little Jr., and look whos on FAUX News, Col. Oliver North, who thinks he's innocent of course, they're all in it together again, decieving the American Public, the Congress, the Senate,and The Pentagon, their all operating a Covert Operation, Shadow Government within a Government, as long as the American people keep putting their heads in the sand , they'll get by with ripping you off and messing up and slowly Destroying your Country !

[generey]

I WANT ONE!!! (or two or three).

[long_rider]

Well I guess the loss of these wepons would depend on who distributed them. If the wepons were given to Blackwater for distribution they could be anywhere.

This is another classic example of the chimps lack of leadership and direction. I guess the plan he developed, the one we have never seen, left out a section about weapons accountability, tracability, and a signoff verification.

Thankx chimp we really appreciate the mis-management on the part of your administration, and appointed officials.

IMPEACH THE CHIMP, and CHENEY.

[finewoven]

remember those, 4 BILLION in cash weighing 363 TONS. The republican administration just gave the tax dollars away (to the enemy)...lets not forget how much defense contractors are *** the government for. What a way to lose a war. What would Ike Eisenhower say.
Posted by tribe at 02:29 PM : Aug 06, 2007

That wasn't American tax dollars, that money was from oil revenues from Iraq, and belonged to them. Still, there's no accountability from the Iraq government when it was stolen and taken out of country.

[iceman_1960]

What military medal is awarded for surfing ?

[lastdance2]

RE :
darkmeat4 (Said)

(Quote from : darkmeat4
As a former Marine and combat veteran of three "wars" and as a negro.
Having earned 9 purple hearts, 2 silver stars, and one medal for surfing
________

No creditability - Absolute Zero -

darkmeat4 : - Take a Pill - Go Back Into :
"Fantasy Land"

Lastdance

[myidoncbs]

Headline: "200,000 Missing AK-47s In Iraq"

Translation: Bush is arming the enemy. (Who do you think took those weapons, anyway?) What the Bush "team" has done in this war is not just "mismanagement"; it's murder.

[dan9111]

ALL of the weapons are missing, not just the ones they "can't account for". Who paid for them, and who has them currently? Aha, they are not the same people. Taxpayers are most certainly missing their money, and therefore the weapons are all stolen goods. Stealing is stealing.

[iceman_1960]

"Very few posters here identify their race or ethnicity."

And those who do, often leave the impression that they are striving for the added credibility of "evidence against self interest" by claiming to be Black and then posting hateful comments about "those people."

This must be greeted with intelligent skepticism.