Missing Weapons

GAO Estimates 30 Percent of Arms Given to Iraq Are Unaccounted For

Washington Post staff writer Glenn Kessler was online Monday, Aug. 6, at Noon ET to discuss a new government report that states the Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

A transcript follows.

Kessler's latest book, "The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy" will be published in September.

____________________

Glenn Kessler: okay, let's get started with some questions.

_______________________

Milan, Italy: How likely is it that these missing weapons will fall into the hands of al-Qaedd, Hezbullah or some other terrorist organizations?

Glenn Kessler: It is quite possible, since the United States does not know what happened to them. They coud be anywhere.

_______________________

Wheaton, Md.: Do these missing weapons prove that the government of Iraq is either completely incompetent and/or collaborating with the terrorists?

Glenn Kessler: I'm not sure how much this says about the government of Iraq than what it says about the way the Pentagon has managed this program. The Iraqi government has complained that it has not received enough weapons.

_______________________

Detroit, Mich.: If Patreus lost all those weapons on his watch, how in the world can we believe, or trust, anything he says?

And why in the world, would he have been put in charge, with the Pentagon and the White House knowing he lost the weapons and was not held accountable?

Glenn Kessler: This is a new report so I'm not sure how much either the Pentagon or the White House knew about it. His defenders says he was trying to deal with a crash program and either the Iraqis went into battle with weapons or they would not; the paperwork could wait till later.

_______________________

Chapel Hill, N.C.: I see that this loss happened during Petraeus's watch. Yet, he is touted as the great savior in Iraq. What about this discrepancy?

Glenn Kessler: He is regarded as a fine commander. His defenders say the assignment of training Iraqi soldiers was not his favorite job, given the daunting challenge.

_______________________

Seattle, Wash.: How much will your story hurt the Republicans politically?

Glenn Kessler: The GAO is an nonpartisan organization, so I don't think political considerations were behind their report. They were just trying to figure out what happened.

_______________________

Peaks Island, M: How much did Petraeus know of the unaccounted for missing weapons when it was his job to be on top of the weapons inventory?

Glenn Kessler: He had his records, which he supplied to the GAO. But I don't think the extent of the problem was realized until the GAO matched up his records with the actual paperwork.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: Do you think there is any accountability for this? I mean, is anyone in the military or the administration responsible for this? I feel certain that nothing will ever come of it, and it will just be forgotten like all the other travesties of this war and this adminitration.

Glenn Kessler: The GAO says the accounting has improved, and the Pentagon says it is trying to make it even better. But it doesn't appear as if anyone will be punished for this problem, if that is what you mean by accountability.

_______________________

Quantico, Va.: When are we going to learn that it's a BAD IDEA to sell or give sophisticated weapons systems to unstable "allies" in the Middle East? We did it with the Shah of Iran in the 1970s, and the Iranian Air Force still has our fighter jets. We did it with Afghanistan when they were fighting the Soviets, only to have them fall into the wrong hands. Now Bush wants to make weapons sales to several Middle Eastern nations. Doesn't anybody see where this is leading?

Glenn Kessler: There are a number of comments that I will simply post. Here's one....

_______________________

Columbus, Ohio: Why do our "political leaders" think that a large number of Iraqis will be loyal to the U.S., when we have invaded their country? By now, we must be the laughing stock of the Islamic world.

Glenn Kessler:...here's another.....

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: STABILIZING IRAQ: DOD Cannot Ensure That U.S.-Funded Equipment Has Reached Iraqi Security Forces (pdf)

_______________________

Boston, Mass.: Reading the story about the lost guns reminded me of the Nicholas Cage movie "Lords of War," about gun running where they follow AK-47s bullets from a factory in Russia, through a bribed customs official, aboard a ship and finally into a civil war zone where one bullet kills a young fighter. Is it reasonable to assume the majority of guns are ending up in the hands of Shiite militias? Aren't we arming the other side of this by training and paying Sunnis to protect their own towns(who can then go buy their own guns or receive guns and money from the Saudis who we also supply)? Is the tragic "Catch-22" irony of our policies lost on the Pentagon and the White House?

Glenn Kessler:...and another....

_______________________

Fort Bragg, N.C.: While missing weapons is somewhat understandable in time of war, although it appears U.S. troops misplacing/losing an individual weapon will be in considerably more trouble than anyone will for this issue, wasn't there a tracking system down to and including someone receipting for weapons received, for some accountability? Considering this is more than 10 times what was estimated unaccounted for, it's as if someone stood on the street corner and handed out $10 bills. Besides weapons, and we already know stacks of money disappeared, should we also expect missing computers, vehicles, etc.?

Glenn Kessler: This is a good question. The GAO looked at equipment such as weapons and helmuts. But this could just be the tip of a much bigger iceberg, in terms of US assistance to Iraq.

_______________________

Seattle, Wash.: The Post's article indicated one major problem was that the Pentagon and not the State Department was handling the Iraqi training and equipment. Can you elaborate on how much of a factor this change was and the consequences of the Pentagon taking the blame?

washingtonpost.com: Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing ( Post, Aug. 6)

Glenn Kessler: The GAO suggests this was a significant factor. Generally, the State Department is in charge of military assistance to other countries, working with the Pentagon. In this case, the Pentagon did it all, arguing it would give it more flexibility. The GAO says this was highly unusual. I don't beleive they have uncovered this lack of paperwork and accountability in the State Department programs.

_______________________

Anchorage, Alaska: Mr. Kessler: "...But it doesn't appear as if anyone will be punished for this problem, if that is what you mean by accountability..." I would think that's exactly what the previous writer meant by accountability. It appears virtually no senior individual, civilian or military, is held responsible for anything, whereas GI Joe himself, the grunts and truck drivers, are held responsible for their actions and the results of their actions.

Glenn Kessler: here's another comment....

_______________________

Madison, Wisc.: Glenn, is what we're looking at here another example of an unexpected contingency in Iraq having been responded to through seat-of-the-pants improvisation in the 2004-05 period, with the consequences of failure being left to be found later?

I'm not sure how much blame Petraeus really deserves for this, but dumping a lot of weapons onto quickly recruited army and police units and expecting the weapons not to go missing is expecting a lot.

Glenn Kessler: Yes, I think you are probably right. The Iraqi army basically dissolved in 2004, and the Bush administration was desperate to show that there were Iraqi troops on the ground. (It was an election year.) If you go back and look at the press statements, there were many optimistic comments about the tens of thousands of troops that had been trained. Upon closer inspection, however, those numbers were inflated.

_______________________

Laurel, Md.: Why are we arming them with AK-47's?

They're not accurate and are useful mainly to spray an area. That's what you do in war, not maintain domestic security.

Glenn Kessler: The Iraqis were used to Soviet Bloc weapons.

_______________________

Princeton, N.J.: Patraeus wrote a op-ed piece in the Post right before the 2004 election that said training of the Iraqi army was going great and making a number of predictions that all turned out to be wrong. His so-called "strategy" has failed in Mosul and Tal Afar which are still extremely unsettled-the Sunni in Mosul and the Turkmen in Tal Afar look at what's happening in Kirkuk are terrified of the Kurds (=Iraqi Army in the North). Patraeus was willing to go along with the "surge" even though it provided one third of the minimum number of troops his own counter insurgency manual said was required.

Why should we trust this man?

Glenn Kessler: Here's a comment.....

_______________________

Dallas, Tex.: Do you think this story will have staying power? I ask it because near the end of the 2004 election there were stories about a weapons dump or something that the U.S. didn't secure and everything got taken. I didn't remember much followup after the election and never figured out if it was much ado about nothing or a major screw up that got lost in the shuffle. Any ideas?

Glenn Kessler: It is true there were weapons dumps that were ignored by US troops, mainly because they were ordered to focus on trying to find the (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction.

_______________________

Glenn Kessler: Thanks for all of the great questions and interesting comments. I have to get back to work! Thanks.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.