How messed up is our policy in Syria? US made TOW missile used against US made Humvee. Washington Post.

Free Syrian Army troops fire a TOW missile. 

US made weapons are being used to destroy other US made weapons. Washington Post. The above video was recorded outside of the city of Aleppo where the Free Syrian Army is engaged with both ISIS and the Syrian regime. The video shows the militants operating a BGM-71 TOW missile and firing it at a US made Humvee. The missiles were provided by the United States but have also found there way into the hands of other groups, including the al-Qadea affiliate, al-Nusra Front. It's unclear which faction the Humvee belonged to. Both ISIS and the Syrian regime have Humvees. ISIS captured their Humvees primarily during the battle of Mosul, but have captured others throughout the war in Iraq. The Syrian regime received theirs from Iraqi militia units that crossed the border to assist the Assad regime. The video claims that one soldier was killed during the attack. 

My Comment:

I don't know about you, but this video made me rather angry. What is the point of supplying people with weapons if they are just going to be captured by the enemy? Both our Humvees and our TOW missiles are being used by groups that are enemies of the United States. ISIS has captured hundreds of Humvees and have been using them since they captured Mosul. Indeed, they make the perfect platform for car bombs. Their heavy armor makes them much more resistant to enemy fire which makes them very hard to stop. 

The most disgusting thing is the fact that these TOW missiles have made their way into the hands of al-Nusra. We have been at war with al-Qaeda for almost 15 years now, and there is no reason whatsoever that they should have access to these weapons. Our president knows that the Free Syrian Army often works with al-Nusra. He also knows that al-Nusra has taken weapons from militia units we have supplied in the past. Both of those things form a very strong argument against supplying weapons to the Free Syrian Army. We should not have given such powerful weapons to a group of people that works so closely with al-Nusra. But our president did so anyways. 

The fact that we have lost millions of dollars of military equipment in Iraq because the Iraqi Army collapsed is a national shame. The fact that we sent weapons to people so we could blow up all that military equipment is a joke. The fact that the second wave of weapons to destroy the first wave has ended up in the hands of a 2nd group of enemy terrorists just becomes a parody of itself. 

So what happens now? Well, ISIS will continue to use the captured Humvees and al-Nusra will continue to use these TOW missiles. I think there is also a very good chance of ISIS capturing TOW missiles as well. Either from defections from the FSA or because they managed to wipe out a unit that had them. 

That could be a major problem for the United States if we ever do end up deploying major forces to Syria or Iraq. That's a real possibility in the next couple of years. If there is a major terrorist attack that hits the US directly, Obama will be pressured to act, and our next president may be much more interested in attacking ISIS then Obama is. Though our armor is more resistant to missile strikes then the equipment that Assad has, there is still a strong possibility that these weapons could cause casualties if we go back to Iraq or Syria. Obviously, TOW missiles are enough to destroy a Humvee, and I am guessing most of our trucks and light armor would be vulnerable as well. Even our main battle tanks could at least be disabled by a missile strike like the one in the video. 

Of course, the whole thing is a colossal waste of money. We spent millions, if not billions of dollars, equipping the Iraqi Army with these weapons, only for them to throw down their arms and flee. We are also spending millions on training and equipping Syrian rebels. Many of those groups were either destroyed during the war, leaving their weapons to be captured, or gave their weapons to other groups like al-Nusra. Now that these weapons have spread, we are spending millions more to direct airstrikes to destroy them. What a total and complete waste. Just goes to show that our policy in the Middle East makes zero sense...