Iraq’s AWOL Weapons

Even with the U.S. pumping $ 3 billion a week into Iraq with scant oversight, it’s still jarring to think that U.S. soldiers may be stealing from the pot. But in recent days, an Army major–and his wife and sister–was indicted on charges of pocketing $9.6 million in bribes in exchange for contracts in Iraq. An Army captain with the 10th Mountain Division was charged after allegedly soliciting a $50,000 bribe. There are now 73 investigations into $5 billion in contracts that may have been tainted by–in addition to bribes and kickbacks–rigged bids, product substitution or double billing. The latest wrinkle is the apparent disappearance of 190,000 weapons–110,000 AK-47s and 80,000 pistols–that the U.S. bought and shipped to Iraq for use by the fledgling Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005. They vanished while General David Petraeus–now commanding all U.S. forces in Iraq–was in charge of rebuilding the Iraqi army. (He has not been implicated in any wrongdoing.) Officials say it’s tough to track tens of thousands of weapons in the midst of a war.

Few expect any significant change in the overall war strategy when the White House releases Petraeus’ report on the surge by Sept. 15. But with the war likely to continue more or less apace, there is even more pressure on the Pentagon to clean up its oversight. Not only is the military dispatching a high-powered investigative team to Iraq to look into past malfeasance, but it’s also creating a senior Army panel to examine what systemic problems may be contributing to the plunder. No evidence has yet surfaced that the missing arms or ammo ended up in the hands of the various militias and insurgent groups that have been battling U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies. But the lack of accountability comes just as some of those Iraqis–and police forces in the U.S.–are complaining about lacking sufficient weapons and ammunition to do their jobs.