Billions In Military Equipment Left Behind--Again--We Sank Hundreds Of Billions In To Military Hardware And How Much Went To Terrorists?

The United States is very kind to former allies—and some enemies, too.  After wars, we leave billions of dollars worth of  buildiings, military equipment and hardware behind. Often for non-pacified terrorist minded natives to use to shoot back at us. 

Welcome to the world of surplus military hardware–the kind we don’t bring back home and reuse, sell, or give to state and local governments.

The general in charge of training Iraqi soldiers a decade ago called it “sunk costs.”  This is funding that we sank into a military operation and can not recover.

“It’s all sunk costs,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who oversaw the training of Iraqi soldiers from 2003 to 2004. “It’s money that we spent and we’re not going to recoup.”

There were 505 U.S. military bases and outposts in Iraq at the height of operations, said Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. Only 39 are still in U.S. hands — but that includes each of the largest bases, meaning the most significant handovers are yet to come.

Those bases didn’t come cheap. Construction costs exceeded $2.4 billion, according to an analysis of Pentagon annual reports by the Congressional Research Service. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers alone was responsible for $1.9 billion in base construction contracts between 2004 and 2010, a spokesman told HuffPost. MOREHERE

Iraq is “buying” jets? Who signs the check?

Even after the remaining 5,500 troops leave Iraq this month, the U.S. will retain a significant footprint there. The U.S. diplomatic mission in Iraq is the largest in the world; the State Department will employ 15,000 people, including 5,000 private security guards to protect buildings and personnel.

Military Gear

The embassy will house a Pentagon program to promote the sale of U.S.-made weapons and military gear to the Iraqis. Iraq is buying $10 billion worth of American military equipment and training, and plans to spend $6.5 billion on F-16 jets made by Lockheed Martin.

The U.S. will also leave behind all those empty bases, which the military is quietly turning over to Iraqi security forces. Most are still equipped with professional kitchens, trailers for housing, and industrial-grade generators — “excess property” the Pentagon deemed too costly and cumbersome to remove. morehere