Biden just made the Taliban one of the best equipped military in the middle east

[Sparko]

Here in the US Biden is counting how many bullets we should be allowed to have in our handguns.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, we just left behind billions of dollars worth of equipment. The Taliban now have an Air Force (our Air Force), missiles, tanks, and thousands of fully automatic machine guns they are using to mow down their own people, including women and children, in the street, while claiming to be all improved and "woke"

The only good news is that they are unlikely to be able to use the aircraft because of a lack of training and they require sophisticated maintenance and support. Unless they can get the Afghan military pilots and support to help them and get aid from the Chinese who will be sure to rush into the vacuum.

Source: https://taskandpurpose.com/news/taliban-weapons-afghanistan/

Here’s all the US military equipment that likely ended up in Taliban hands

The Biden administration admitted on Tuesday that the Taliban had captured a significant amount of U.S. military equipment originally supplied to Afghan security forces during the militants’ blitzkrieg on Kabul in recent weeks — and the U.S. doesn’t know exactly how much American gear they’ve lost to terrorist hands.

“We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during a press conference. “Obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport.”

Indeed, photos published by newswires like the Associated Press and circulated on social media by eyewitnesses to the Taliban sweep of Kabul show militant fighters touting M4 and M16 rifles, M24 sniper rifle systems, and M2 .50 caliber machine guns. Other footage showed night vision goggles, radios, and magazine pouches apparently seized from Afghan outposts during the Taliban offensive, which also saw militants seize military vehicles like Humvees and MRAPs.

Taliban fighters stand guard at an entrance gate outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul on August 17, 2021. (Photo by Javed Tanveer / AFP via Getty Images)


While Sullivan did not specify what a “fair amount” of defense materials entailed, he had previously blamed the members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) for laying down their arms before the Taliban onslaught, stating that the U.S.’s $86 billion in funding over the last two decades “could not give them the will and ultimately they decided that they would not fight for Kabul.”

At the moment, there’s still a lot that senior U.S. officials don’t know about American weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban. But based on past reporting from U.S. government watchdogs, the militant group may have inherited a broad arsenal of American weapons from the hands of fleeing Afghan security forces.

According to a 2017 Government Accountability Office report, the U.S. military transferred roughly 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons systems, and 208 aircraft to the ANDSF between fiscal years 2003 and 2016. And according to a recent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction analysis, the last few years have seen the Defense Department send the ANDSF more than 7,000 machine guns, more than 4,700 Humvees, and more than 20,000 grenades. This is to say nothing of the communications, explosive ordnance disposal, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) equipment transferred to the ANDSF over the course of two decades as detailed in the GAO report. According to the Intercept, the Taliban have even seized U.S. military biometrics devices “that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces.”

(Government Accountability Office)


That American weapons are falling into the hands of the very militants they were intended to kill is nothing new. A 2016 Pentagon audit revealed that poor record-keeping and regulations had allowed nearly half of the 1.5 million weapons provided to Iraqi and Afghan security forces since 2002 to go missing, including nearly 978,000 M4 and M16s, while a 2014 SIGAR report found that some 43 percent of weapons provided to the ANDSF likely ended up in the hands of groups like the Taliban or ISIS. There is also plenty of ammo missing from former Afghan government stockpiles.

That said, not all of this captured gear will see combat again. Captured UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters the Taliban paraded on social media during the group’s march on Kabul, for example, are both unflyable and outright unsustainable due to a lack of training, spare parts, and logistics required to operate such advanced equipment, as Defense One astutely noted on Friday.

Still, the overwhelming volume of American small arms and other weaponry captured from Afghan military outposts by the Taliban is still a major propaganda victory for the group, if anything. Indeed, the militant group has taken pains to parade captured U.S. military gear — including rare weapons like the U.S. special operations forces FN-SCAR — in videos showcasing their capabilities. Several Taliban fighters had American-made weapons on display when they were pictured sitting in the presidential palace.


Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (Associated Press/Zabi Karimi)


When pressed on the matter of U.S. equipment falling into enemy hands on Friday, prior to Kabul’s fall, the Pentagon appeared unprepared to address the potential issues. “We are always worried about U.S. equipment that could fall into an adversaries’ hands,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said at the time. “What actions we might take to prevent that or to forestall it, I just simply won’t speculate about today.”

But days later, when asked if U.S. troops were taking action “to prevent equipment from falling into the hands of the Taliban by destroying it” during a Tuesday press conference, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Joint Staff provided a dismally simple response: “I don’t have the answer to that question.”

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[rogue06]

That said, not all of this captured gear will see combat again. Captured UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters the Taliban paraded on social media during the group’s march on Kabul, for example, are both unflyable and outright unsustainable due to a lack of training, spare parts, and logistics required to operate such advanced equipment, as Defense One astutely noted on Friday.

True, although Moscow, Beijing and Tehran will all pay handsomely for the chance to take them and other high tech equipment apart and study it.

And the Taliban showed that you don't need nukes or jet fighters to beat the U.S. (as old Joe warned Americans), all you need is some one too out of it to either care or understand what is going on in charge

[Cow Poke]

True, although Moscow, Beijing and Tehran will all pay handsomely for the chance to take them and other high tech equipment apart and study it.

And the Taliban showed that you don't need nukes or jet fighters to beat the U.S. (as old Joe warned Americans), all you need is some one too out of it to either care or understand what is going on in charge

For those complaining about how the US armed the Afghans during their war with Russia* --- the Old Duffer has just taken it to a whole new level.

[CivilDiscourse]

True, although Moscow, Beijing and Tehran will all pay handsomely for the chance to take them and other high tech equipment apart and study it.

And the Taliban showed that you don't need nukes or jet fighters to beat the U.S. (as old Joe warned Americans), all you need is some one too out of it to either care or understand what is going on in charge

I don't think "Beat the Americans" is really an accurate description. That's like saying you beat Michael Jordan at basket ball because your team started winning games after Jordan decided it was time to go home and left the court.

[rogue06]

I don't think "Beat the Americans" is really an accurate description. That's like saying you beat Michael Jordan at basket ball because your team started winning games after Jordan decided it was time to go home and left the court.

Explain that to the world at large and especially a jubilant Moscow, Beijing and Tehran.

[Sparko]

True, although Moscow, Beijing and Tehran will all pay handsomely for the chance to take them and other high tech equipment apart and study it.

And the Taliban showed that you don't need nukes or jet fighters to beat the U.S. (as old Joe warned Americans), all you need is some one too out of it to either care or understand what is going on in charge

Yep. Selling the Blackhawks will be pretty lucrative. But even if they don't, and they don't have the parts to maintain them, they can still use them until they fall apart if they can get the former Afghan pilots and support personnel to help them, since we trained them to do that, plus we probably left a ton of spare parts behind too, like everything else. They only need to use them a couple of times to say attack Israel, or commit genocide among their own peoples. Or who knows what.

Does anyone know if the US Army has some sort of "kill switch" in major equipment like Blackhawks to render them unusable if they fall into enemy hands? If not, they should.

Please enter password to continue.
Wrong password. BZZT.

Thank you for pressing the self destruct button! 10, 9, 8...

[Cow Poke]

Yep. Selling the Blackhawks will be pretty lucrative. But even if they don't, and they don't have the parts to maintain them, they can still use them until they fall apart if they can get the former Afghan pilots and support personnel to help them, since we trained them to do that, plus we probably left a ton of spare parts behind too, like everything else. They only need to use them a couple of times to say attack Israel, or commit genocide among their own peoples. Or who knows what.

Does anyone know if the US Army has some sort of "kill switch" in major equipment like Blackhawks to render them unusable if they fall into enemy hands? If not, they should.

Please enter password to continue.
Wrong password. BZZT.

Thank you for pressing the self destruct button! 10, 9, 8...

I know that when Iran kicked us out, our military technicians managed to sabotage the fighter jets we were maintaining for them under the Shah, but that was when we had adults in charge of the military.

We also have reports of Afghan pilots flying their aircraft (copters and fixed wing) into neighboring Stans, but we apparently don't know if that's to turn them over to other governments, or to preserve them for us.

You can almost always trust the Afghans to go with the highest bidder.

[Sparko]

I know that when Iran kicked us out, our military technicians managed to sabotage the fighter jets we were maintaining for them under the Shah, but that was when we had adults in charge of the military.

We also have reports of Afghan pilots flying their aircraft (copters and fixed wing) into neighboring Stans, but we apparently don't know if that's to turn them over to other governments, or to preserve them for us.

You can almost always trust the Afghans to go with the highest bidder.

You would think that today with our sophisticated computer-controlled aircraft and weapons that we would build in a fail-safe into any equipment we give to foreign countries, in case they ever turn against us. Should be able to broadcast a signal to them to disable/wipe the computers, at the very least.

[Cow Poke]

You would think that today with our sophisticated computer-controlled aircraft and weapons that we would build in a fail-safe into any equipment we give to foreign countries, in case they ever turn against us. Should be able to broadcast a signal to them to disable/wipe the computers, at the very least.

I would be surprised if such was NOT the case. OR that a code is required once a month from our own military to keep the equipment active.

[rogue06]

Yep. Selling the Blackhawks will be pretty lucrative. But even if they don't, and they don't have the parts to maintain them, they can still use them until they fall apart if they can get the former Afghan pilots and support personnel to help them, since we trained them to do that, plus we probably left a ton of spare parts behind too, like everything else. They only need to use them a couple of times to say attack Israel, or commit genocide among their own peoples. Or who knows what.

Does anyone know if the US Army has some sort of "kill switch" in major equipment like Blackhawks to render them unusable if they fall into enemy hands? If not, they should.

Please enter password to continue.
Wrong password. BZZT.

Thank you for pressing the self destruct button! 10, 9, 8...

FWIU, SOP is to use thermite grenades to wreck any equipment that has to be abandoned although it doesn't always work as well as it should.

I had a friend who was wounded in Vietnam running to pull the pin on a thermite device set atop his equipment (he was a crypto-communications expert) as their base was being overrun. He tripped over a cat just as a mortar round took out the tent his radio was in, falling face forward as shrapnel hit his heel and took off the head of the sergeant assigned to accompany him who was right behind him.

[Sparko]

I would be surprised if such was NOT the case. OR that a code is required once a month from our own military to keep the equipment active.

You would think so, but then this is the US Military. They don't usually do the smart thing. These are the people who buy $1000 hammers.

[Cow Poke]

You would think so, but then this is the US Military. They don't usually do the smart thing. These are the people who buy $1000 hammers.

IF they had been doing an orderly withdrawal, taking equipment with them as they go, they could leave whatever they wanted to leave in a "bone yard", and when the Taliban is swarming all over their new treasure, drop a MOAB or two on the cluster.

[Sparko]

IF they had been doing an orderly withdrawal, taking equipment with them as they go, they could leave whatever they wanted to leave in a "bone yard", and when the Taliban is swarming all over their new treasure, drop a MOAB or two on the cluster.

They could probably do that on the presidential palace right now and take out all of the Taliban leaders in one fell swoop. They are all in there posing for pictures and posting on twitter.

[Cow Poke]

They could probably do that on the presidential palace right now and take out all of the Taliban leaders in one fell swoop. They are all in there posing for pictures and posting on twitter.

Yeah, but the Taliban know that the US won't do that as long as we're trying to collect our citizens and Afghan interpreters and those who have assisted the US.

That's why we should have focused on the civilian Exodus before sucking our military out of the field.

The Taliban, at this point, hold all the cards.

[rogue06]

You would think so, but then this is the US Military. They don't usually do the smart thing. These are the people who buy $1000 hammers.

$400, $600, $1000... the price always changes which is an indication that something isn't right about the story...

Source: The myth of the $600 hammer

Ever since the Defense Department procurement scandals of the 1980s, the $600 hammer has been held up as an icon of Pentagon incompetence. Immortalized in the "Hammer Awards" that Vice President Al Gore's program to reinvent government gives out to waste-cutters, this absurdly overpriced piece of hardware has come to symbolize all that's wrong with the government's financial management.

One problem: "There never was a $600 hammer," said Steven Kelman, public policy professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a former administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. It was, he said, "an accounting artifact."

The military bought the hammer, Kelman explained, bundled into one bulk purchase of many different spare parts. But when the contractors allocated their engineering expenses among the individual spare parts on the list-a bookkeeping exercise that had no effect on the price the Pentagon paid overall-they simply treated every item the same. So the hammer, originally $15, picked up the same amount of research and development overhead-$420-as each of the highly technical components, recalled retired procurement official LeRoy Haugh. (Later news stories inflated the $435 figure to $600.)

"The hammer got as much overhead as an engine," Kelman continued, despite the fact that the hammer cost much less than $420 to develop, and the engine cost much more-"but nobody ever said, 'What a great deal the government got on the engine!' "

Thus retold, the legend of the $600 hammer becomes a different kind of cautionary tale. It is no longer about simple, obvious waste. The new moral is that numbers, taken as self-explanatory truths by the public and the press, can in fact be the woefully distorted products of a broken accounting system.

The root of the problem is as old as the Republic: Federal accounting has always been primarily concerned with making sure money was spent as Congress directed-not with making sure it was spent wisely. Historically, explained the Pentagon's deputy chief financial officer, Nelson Toye, DoD's bookkeeping systems were designed to "be able to satisfy the Congress that we were good stewards of the funds entrusted to us: We didn't overspend, we did spend it on what you asked us to, we didn't spend money to buy things you told us we couldn't buy." In the past, Toye said, "there has not been a requirement for DoD or any federal agency to routinely collect the costs of its assets and report those costs."


Source

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[*The article continues at the hyperlink above*]

And for my next trick, let's dispel the myth around how stupid NASA was for spending a fortune developing a pen that works in zero gravity while the Russians solved the problem by using pencils...

NASA Pencil_v._Pen.jpg