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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPentagon loses track of vast arsenal sent to Yemen in recent years
Chaos in Yemen has left the US military unable to monitor the vast arsenal it has spent years providing to its Yemeni counterpart.
Yemen is now functionally leaderless after Houthi rebels took over the capital of Sanaa last month, prompting the resignation of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The rebels are said to control the Yemeni militarys arms depots and bases, giving them effective control of US-provided and other heavy weaponry, including tanks and artillery.
The unrest has limited our ability to conduct routine end-use monitoring checks and inspections we would normally perform, a US defense official told the Guardian.
US military officials would not specify which military equipment it could no longer track, but in recent years the US has sold or leased equipment including helicopters, night-vision gear, surveillance equipment, military radios and transport aircraft to Yemen.
Since 2006, the US military has provided more than $400m to Yemen, according to research estimates prepared for Congress.
The US has also trained the Yemeni military, particularly on its surveillance drones, a process that predated Obama but has accelerated under him.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/pentagon-loses-track-weapons-yemen
newfie11
(8,159 posts)The money we spent on those weapons could have been spent on infrastructure at home!
Now they cause mystery, suffering,and death. Good going MIC, hope you fat cats choke on your wads of money.
Amishman
(5,557 posts)We sold $66 million in arms to Yemen from 2005-2009. I would guess that the number for 2009 to present is quite a bit higher given the recent ramp up in overall arms deals.
source for the 66m number http://armscontrolnow.org/2011/04/06/arms-sales-to-yemen/
TheKentuckian
(25,026 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)hatrack
(59,587 posts)Or reverse-engineer the technology or anything like that.
What a relief!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)village, like they did in Libya and Syria! and if you disagree with me you love al Qaeda, because we STOPPED giving them arms and money and told them to keep getting crazier with their tactics and ideologies once the target was toppled, y'see?