January 11, 2024

"More than $1 billion worth of shoulder-fired missiles, kamikaze drones and night-vision devices that the United States has sent to Ukraine have not been properly tracked by American officials..."

"... a new Pentagon report concludes, raising concerns they could be stolen or smuggled at a time Congress is debating whether to send more military aid to Kyiv.... 'It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance,' the report stated.... As of last June, the latest data available, the United States had given Ukraine more than 10,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 2,500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles and about 750 Kamikaze Switchblade drones, 430 medium-range air-to-air missiles and 23,000 night vision devices. Dangerous combat conditions made it largely impossible for Defense Department officials to travel to the front lines to ensure the weapons were being used as intended...."

From "U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine Was Poorly Tracked, Pentagon Report Concludes/The Defense Department’s inspector general found that American defense officials and diplomats in Washington and Europe had failed to quickly or fully account for all of nearly 40,000 weapons sent to Ukraine" (NYT).

57 comments:

Jupiter said...

They're being carried over our southern border right now.

Earnest Prole said...

Wait, Times, I thought being concerned about this automatically made you Putin’s fuckbuddy.

rhhardin said...

Sell them to who? There's a pressing local need that would override the effort.

Kate said...

And if that reinforces your doubt in the wisdom of aid to Ukraine, you're Putin's Puppet.

Iman said...

Follow the money. Much Democrat shitbird fuckery afoot.

RideSpaceMountain said...

“Behind every great fortune is a greater crime”

You know what? Screw auditing the Fed. I mean it's still important, but maybe while we're uncovering the most massive ponzi scheme in human history maybe we could kill two birds with one stone and audit the Pentagon too.

I'd love to find out where the bodies are buried. Not figuratively. Literal fucking bodies.

wendybar said...

Wait. You mean our Government is not accountable for wasting all of our money, and then vote to steal MORE?? Color me shocked!! When have they EVER been accountable?? I'm still waiting to find out what happened to that 2.3 trillion dollars that Rumsfeld told us was missing from the Pentagon on the day before 9/11


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-war-on-waste/

tim maguire said...

"U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine Was Poorly Tracked,

Isn't this standard for the military? Just another billion dollars worth of stuff they don't know what happened to. Throw it on the pile with all the other billons worth of stuff they lost.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Here's the problem for the militarily under-educated. It's $1 billion...to us. And highly probable that it's so very much higher because that's just what they're comfortable telling you.

The value of that gear, especially the ATGMs and MANpads, is worth 10x or more that amount in asymmetric warfare value. God forbid the "kamikaze drones" include loitering munitions...which I've little doubt it does.

Assume they didn't have "poor tracking". Assume they had none at all. And you will never know what was lost either, at least not until it blows up live on CNN at tens if not hundreds of 'asymmetric' events over the next ten years.

People from here to Timbuktu are going to be paying with their lives for Dementia Hitler and Son of Dementia Hitler's Ukrainian money-laundering operation for decades to come.

n.n said...

Shades of Obama/Biden/Clinton, domestic, and alien policies.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

As I have mentioned before, our son is an Army CPT now at the Special Warfare course. When he was a platoon leader and a pair of night vision goggles (NVG or NOD are acronyms), the entire base would be shut down until they were recovered to prevent them from falling into unfriendly hands, as these were thought to be a powerful advantage for us over our enemies. Between 16,000 pairs left in the Afghanistan bugout and now what's been lost or sold in Ukraine, he just shakes his head.

Lance said...

What does "properly tracked" mean? How do you "properly" track weapons in a combat zone? Have these weapons been found outside Ukraine?

Does the NYT answer any of these questions?

gilbar said...

how much went, to the big guy?
Seriously.. Was ANY of this Even sent over? Or was it ALL a scam.
Judging from the military prowess of the current Ukrainian Army, i'd say: SCAM!
Ukraine’s War Effort Is Stuck. This Heroic Battlefield Failure Shows Why.
Rout of elite Ukraine forces in counteroffensive is a lesson in why the war effort is stalled

The planners of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against the country’s Russian invaders last year envisioned that elite forces, like the unit led by Capt. Anatoliy Kharchenko, would sweep in to deliver the final blows of a D-Day-like triumph.

But by the time paratroopers in Kharchenko’s company entered the battle on a moonless night last August, the counteroffensive was already skidding toward failure—and his men were about to learn all of the deadly reasons why.
The first wave of Ukrainian brigades, launched in June, had barely advanced and suffered heavy losses. A switch to small, infantry assaults had been stymied as well, advancing just a short distance and seizing only one village. Now Kharchenko’s company came in not as closers, but as a final roll of the dice..
The trees exploded with machine-gun fire. Grenades lobbed from automatic launchers burst around them.

The platoon was incapacitated. More than half of its 20 or so men were dead or wounded within minutes, including the medic..
The Ukrainian assault was over before it had even begun.

I asked about a year ago:
Assuming this war is "SO IMPORTANT".. What happens when the US Loses, like they do, EVERY TIME?

gilbar said...

Serious Questions..
What was the last war the USA won?
What was the last war the USA won without Russian assistance?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In fairness, it’s not like Ukrainians were asking what Biden and his son did with the money they sent them.

After the laptop leaked, maybe they thought ‘we can do whatever we want with our investment.’

gilbar said...

The Sad Thing isn't that the USA spends more on "defense" than the rest of the world combined..
The Sad Thing is, that we don't get ANYTHING for that money..
Prove Me Wrong

Sebastian said...

"have not been properly tracked by American officials..."

What U.S. expenditures and foreign assistance ever get "properly tracked"? Which past officials were sanctioned and jailed for not properly tracking x? Who, in government, cares, and has reason to care?

Quaestor said...

Althouse needs a new tag in preparation for the coming terrorist catastrophe prominently featuring those weapons "not properly tracked" by Resident Joe's minions. I suggest Biden's war crimes.

Kevin said...

When we fight the next war, our kids will be killed with our own bullets.

Oh Yea said...

"Dangerous combat conditions made it largely impossible for Defense Department officials to travel to the front lines to ensure the weapons were being used as intended...."

So the bean counters were too afraid to go to the front lines to see them destroying Russian tanks? Please don't fire that Javalin until you fill out SF-2395.

Original Mike said...

This seems a bigger deal to me vis-a-vis Austin.

Oh Yea said...

Serious question. Are there any reputable accounts of a significant number of weapons being intentionally diverted or is it just speculation because the Government accounting standards (which the US miliary has yet to meet in pease time operations.) were not followed to the satisfaction of some pencil pusher?

Yancey Ward said...

A rule of thumb- what can be stolen and sold on the black market will be stolen and sold on the black market.

tim in vermont said...

I wonder how “The Beast” would stand up to one of those Javelins that are floating around. What would the IRA have done with those stingers? We don’t need control of our southern border though. I am sure that nobody would sell any of this stuff to anybody who might be angry with the US for some reason.

mikemtgy said...

If the Ukrainians aren't using these against the Russians, they are more than corrupt, they are fools.

FullMoon said...

Love the names. Very middle school video gameish.
Kamakazi Switchblade especially exciting. Sounds like a Japanese WWE wrestler.
Just the name gonna cause Russians to surrender.

Jake said...

I am SHOCKED.

WK said...

They should get some of them Apple tracker thingies. Less than $25 bucks a pop. Problem solved!

Narayanan said...

It is my understanding that they have been AirTagged by China during aasembly
[AirTag is a super-easy way to keep track of your stuff]

Narayanan said...

A rule of thumb- what can be stolen and sold on the black market will be stolen and sold on the black market.
=====
add to that : if Truck has doors on back things will fall out

Narr said...

Wow. Some people are corrupt!

OTOH, if this news causes more people to question the competence of our leadership, it's all to the good.

MacMacConnell said...

Probably sold to the Houthi in Yemen or Hamas.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Ukraine is one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

Michael K said...

Has anyone checked Biden's garage ?

Paul said...

With an open Southern Border it takes little imagination for someone to see we are vulnerable to massive terrorism. 100s of 9/11s.. with 10 million illegals and millions of 'got aways' GOD KNOWS WHAT TERROR CELLS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED HERE.

Fortunately they will no doubt pick 'gun free' zones to do their terror.

Thanks to all those that either voted for Biden or refrained from voting.

Reap what you sow.

loudogblog said...

The phrase, "War is hell" also applies to inventory control.

Rusty said...

"U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine Was Poorly Tracked,"
Why is anyone suprised? After Afghanistan I thought this was SOP.
But god help the poor grunt that can't account for every issued item.
gilbar was right. If it was tracked the graft would be exposed. Best not to keep records.

Rusty said...

Oh Yea said...
"Serious question. Are there any reputable accounts of a significant number of weapons being intentionally diverted or is it just speculation because the Government accounting standards (which the US miliary has yet to meet in pease time operations.) were not followed to the satisfaction of some pencil pusher?"
Serious answer.
Yeah. Because every grifter keeps acurate accounts of their illegal goings on.

If you're afraid of dangerous combat conditions perhaps the Defense Department isn't for you.
Just sayin'.

Oh Yea said...

Rusty said...
...
Serious answer.
Yeah. Because every grifter keeps acurate accounts of their illegal goings on.

If you're afraid of dangerous combat conditions perhaps the Defense Department isn't for you.
Just sayin'.


So all the reports of illegal activity are just speculation because of the paperwork is correct with no other basis in fact?

Larry Sellers said...

What kind of Putinista would spread such evil intent about our 51st State!

Dude1394 said...

what a joke. Anyone signing up for THIS military has a screw loose.

hawkeyedjb said...

Didn't we just watch this tale on "Jack Reacher" last week? I thought it was fiction...

Zavier Onasses said...

1. Some of the missiles may be returned to us - if we do any flying around the Middle East.

2. How does the $1B compare to the property abandoned in the Afghan Skedaddle?

Zavier Onasses said...

Gilbar asked: "What was the last war the USA won?"

Methinks answer is WW II; the last time the USA declared war.

Dave64 said...

A lot of connected people are getting rich at the American taxpayers expense.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Ukraine is the perfect place for black market sales. Remember, 10% goes to the Big Guy. Got to fund his long-term Alzheimer's care facility.

WK said...

Narayanan said...
It is my understanding that they have been AirTagged by China during aasembly

So, you can just use Find My Rocketlauncher in the iPhone app. Nice.

Rich said...

"did not appropriately monitor at least $1bn of $1.7bn in weapons sent to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly two years ago."

What would adequate monitoring have entailed? Tracking the use of every man-portable system across Ukraine? Is this even possible?

“It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance,” said the report, which was published on Thursday. It added that the high rates of missing or unaccounted for weapons “may increase the risk of theft of diversion”.

So they claim that there is inadequate monitoring, but didn't bother checking if that actually mattered?

A defense department official said: “There is no credible evidence of illicit diversion of US-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine.”

Is it just me, or is this whole thing a non-story?

Dr Weevil said...

It would be nice if people would stop repeating falsehoods that have been refuted many times before. A few examples:

MacMacConnell (1:41pm):
"Probably sold to the Houthi in Yemen or Hamas." Even assuming Ukraine had any weapons to spare - they don't - why the Hell would the Houthis pay high prices for weapons smuggled through four seas, two straits, and a canal, when Iran gives them all the can possibly use, paid for by the US billions sent by Biden?

I Stand with Isreal (1:51pm):
"Ukraine is one of the most corrupt nations in the world." No, it's not. Check the Corruption Perceptions Index and you'll find Ukraine is tied for 116th out of 180 - low, but nowhere near the bottom. Russia is tied with Paraguay for 137th. And the US is in 24th place, barely hanging on to the very edge of the top 15%. Raw scores on a scale of 0-100, with the highest actual score 90 (Denmark) and lowest 12 (Somalia) are: Ukraine 33, Russia 28, US 69.

Mike of Snoqualmie (5:24pm):
"Ukraine is the perfect place for black market sales. Remember, 10% goes to the Big Guy." No, it doesn't, not since Zelenskyy was elected almost 5 years ago. One more time: the month Zelenskyy was inaugurated after running on a platform that included fighting corruption is the same month that Hunter Biden left Ukraine and the board of Burisma, never to return. All the bribes were under Poroshenko, not Zelenskyy. Hunter left because he knew the gravy train was no longer running.

Finally, did anyone notice that some of the weapons not tracked to their destinations were air-to-air missiles? How would it even be possible to track those to their destination? Is the auditor going to fly along on every combat mission? Where? On the pilot's lap? Riding on the wing? Even if it's a two-seater plane, the pilot needs his copilot/bombardier/whatever in the second seat for combat missions. Only trainers, transports, and civilian planes have spare seats for observers, and I don't think Ukraine is using any of those for combat.

As for the Wall Street Journal story, Ukraine's offensive would have gone on a lot better if we had supplied the promised equipment. So far, we've sent 31 M-1 tanks of the hundreds we have lying around unused, compared to the 900 tanks provided by European countries: absolutely pathetic. We have 1200 ATACMS missiles that have passed their expiration date but still work. We sent 20, and Ukraine used 5 of them to destory 27 Russian helicopters. Another few hundred would make a huge difference. And the long-promised F-16s are still being delayed by assholes in the Biden administration who don't want Russia to lose.

Joe Smith said...

They're all being used against our warships in the Red Sea.

This is too easy...

Rusty said...

Oh Yea said...
Rusty said...
...
Serious answer.
Yeah. Because every grifter keeps acurate accounts of their illegal goings on.

If you're afraid of dangerous combat conditions perhaps the Defense Department isn't for you.
Just sayin'.


"So all the reports of illegal activity are just speculation because of the paperwork is correct with no other basis in fact?"
There would be no speculation if the paperwork were correct.

Rich. You might have missed the part where I said , god help the poor grunt........." In the armed services you are responsible for EVERYTHING you are issued. From private to admiral they must account for everything they are issued even if it is to be passed along to another service.

Dr Weevil said...

Joe Smith (8:16pm):
It is indeed too easy to tell lies. Do you have any evidence at all that the weapons being fired at our warships and at civilian ships in the Red Sea are (a) US-made, and if so (b) smuggled from Ukraine rather than shipped from Afghanistan via Iran?

EdwdLny said...

Should any of these weapons be found to have killed Americans, particularly here in the US, every single politician who supported this debacle should be subject to violent retribution, fatal retribution. Each and every one. Assholes.

Joe Smith said...

'Do you have any evidence at all that the weapons being fired at our warships and at civilian ships in the Red Sea are (a) US-made, and if so (b) smuggled from Ukraine rather than shipped from Afghanistan via Iran?'

I'm channeling my inner liberal; I don't need any fucking evidence.

It doesn't matter where they come from.

It does matter that Democrat administrations are ejaculating weapons all over the world in undeclared wars with zero accountability.

How about the guns that Obama and his wingman flooded into Mexico, one of which was used to kill a U.S. agent?

Democrats love war.

Joe Smith said...

'Should any of these weapons be found to have killed Americans, particularly here in the US, every single politician who supported this debacle should be subject to violent retribution, fatal retribution. Each and every one. Assholes.'

You should be a comedy writer.

There is no accountability in government. Ever.

Rusty said...

I wonder what could have happened to them? Oh, well. I'll just trust the people in charge of such things know what they're doing. Not fully tracking them is a feature. Those weapons are on their way to becoming graft.

mikee said...

Coming soon to a theater near YOU!

Nick Cage in "God of War II: Back to Ukraine!"