Iraqi M1 Abrams. -Reuters
Americans are spending millions of dollars to destroy American equipment in Iraq. -Reuters. ISIS had captured a massive amount of American arms and armor that had originally provided to the Iraqi government. These arms are ludicrously expensive. The M1 Abrams are $6 million a piece and the Howitzers and MRAPs are not much cheaper. The government spends at least $100,000 a mission to destroy these weapons.
My Comment:
To be fair these weapons were paid for by the Iraqi government, so at least it isn't quite as bad as the article makes it out to be. It is still a colossal waste of equipment though. Had we known that the Iraqi security forces were going to fall apart completely maybe they would have rethought the arms sale. There is something perverse about having to destroy equipment that your country made, but as the article points out, it is hardly unique.
Still, this is a terrible situation. It's not just the tanks and MRAPs. It's the rifles, body armor and other supplies. ISIS is armed with American weapons and are using those weapons to kill American allies. American pilots are shooting at American made tanks. It's just surreal. There is plenty of blame to go around. Both our current government and the government of Iraq share the blame for this debacle.
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