| Submit your comments on this article | |
| India-Pakistan | |
| US military may hand over Afghan war equipment to Pakistan | |
| 2014-03-18 | |
The Washington Post (WP) reported that the potential move could be, "part of an effort by the Pentagon to unload excess military supplies to US allies at no cost". The report said that discussions on this issue has been taking place over several months between American and Pak officials. One motive for this potential transaction is that the US does not want to pay to ship out leftover military hardware from the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. The WP report gives detail that although a final decision on this issue has not been taken, Pakistain has particular interest in acquiring the US Army's mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles. The MRAP vehicles could be used by Pakistain's military in its fight against Taliban turbans within its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. The WP report describes the MRAP as,"the backbone of the US military's vehicle fleet in Afghanistan...designed to protect American troops from bombs". Pentagon leaders have said it would potentially cost more than $100,000 per vehicle to ship MRAP vehicles back to the US. The US government is offering the vehicles to allies for free on an "as-is, where-is" basis, said the report quoting a Pentagon front man. A Pak security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the military was also interested in acquiring night-vision and communications equipment. Siemon T. Wezeman, a senior researcher and South Asia expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, is quoted in the article as stating that the MRAP deal could be beneficial to both countries. Wezeman says that the US military is wary about leaving behind surplus equipment in Afghanistan, fearing the Afghan army's ability to fend off the Taliban insurgency. "There is a feeling in the US that the Afghan army is not totally reliable, so it may be safer to just park them in Pakistain," Wezeman is quoted as saying. However there is apprehension on the part of the US to make the equipment transfer fearing the impact it could have on its own relations with Afghanistan and Pakistain's arch-rival India. Wezeman however doubts that India would seriously object "to a few hundred MRAPs ending up in Pakistain." He said that the vehicles are built to fight insurgencies and would have little value in a major cross-border war involving tanks and warplanes. Another flipside is that Pakistain would itself put limits to the amount of equipment they would be willing to accept. "Pakistain won't become America's junkyard," the WP report quoted an official as saying. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 If there is excess semtex use it on the excess equipment. |
| Posted by: irishrageboy 2014-03-18 15:45 |
| #6 It's a two-fer. Some payback to Pakistan for only token complaints about our bombing their militants, and it pi$$es off Karzai. |
| Posted by: gorb 2014-03-18 11:51 |
| #5 Give them to Abdul Rashid Dostum and save on shipping them to the duplicitous Paks. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-03-18 08:31 |
| #4 Why I'm not surprised? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-03-18 06:16 |
| #3 Wezeman however doubts that India would seriously object "to a few hundred MRAPs ending up in Pakistain." Unless the MRAPs come with the contractor support package, it won't be an issue after 30 days... max. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-18 04:43 |
| #2 This is akin to giving your hated Son-in-Law's daughter the Basic Barbie. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-03-18 04:36 |
| #1 Give them to India not Pakistan our real enemy in the region whose Taliban ideology is funded by Saudi/UAE/Kuwait. |
| Posted by: Paul D 2014-03-18 03:13 |