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| Iraq | ||
| U.S. to leave military equipment to Iraq when it withdraws | ||
| 2005-11-11 | ||
| The U.S. military plans to leave behind thousands of trucks and combat vehicles for the Iraq Army. The Defense Department has approved a plan in which the U.S. military would not withdraw from Iraq with much of the equipment deployed thre since 2003, but would instead transfer the vehicles and weaponry to the Iraq Army, officials said. U.S. commanders and their Iraqi counterparts have been discussing the transfer of U.S.-origin weaponry and vehicles, which will take place in stages, Middle East Newsline reported. "We have discussed what our ability will be in the long run to leave behind some additional equipment for them over time, so that they have the same capabilities that we do, or very nearly," Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of Multinational Division, Baghdad, said. Webster told a Pentagon briefing on Oct. 21 that the military would draft a formal plan for the transfer of U.S. weaponry and platforms to the Iraq Army. He said the United States has already provided a large amount of surplus heavy weapons, light weapons, commercial trucks and military trucks to Iraq. "We're adding armor on to some of those vehicles now," Webster said. "I know very much they'd like to have Humvees."
For his part, Webster said he envisioned the transfer of Humvees, trucks, communications and command and control systems to Iraq. The general said the Iraq Army would probably not receive such advanced platforms as the Stryker infantry fighting vehicle or M1A1 main battle tanks. "I think [the U.S. equipment transfer to Iraq would be] more in the line of trucks and command and control equipment, as opposed to heavy armor," Webster said.
Officials said Iraq does not want to base its military on U.S.-origin equipment. Instead, Baghdad has worked with the United States to ensure a supply of Soviet-origin equipment from such countries as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. Over the last week, the Iraq Army has received the first of 77 T-72 tanks from Hungary. "They really have asked us for the ability to get contracts with former Eastern European nations to help them rebuild the fleet of former Soviet equipment, for the most part, that they have," Webster said. "They're very happy with their tanks and their BMPs and personnel carriers." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Some of that stuff is expensive to maintain and they do have to be maintained. That is why Soviet/Russian equipment was popular. Cheap and basic. Now if we plan to keep Military Assistance Groups [MAGs] in country, I suspect some level of maintenance will be attained. However, just as Congress has a long history of cutting funding to maintenance to save pennies, the ME countries history of corruption makes such efforts iffy for their ability to keep the equipment operational. |
| Posted by: Cheng Theating1514 2005-11-11 09:03 |
| #2 Most of this stuff is going to be pretty beat up. Dad said he was astounded at the vehicles and equipment left behind after the African Campaign. Row after row of bulldozers, trucks, etc. What this does is allow the reserves and guard to replace equipment that is a decade old with all new stuff. Revamping the TOE without having to explain the costs. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-11-11 09:01 |
| #1 Ratz, I was hoping some of this stuff would end up at Bill Jacksons in St. Pete. No I can't find a homepage for them. :< |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-11 08:07 |