$7 billion in Afghan war gear scrapped
Published: June 23, 2013 9:03 PM
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO. The Washington Post
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Facing a tight withdrawal deadline and tough terrain, the U.S. military has destroyed more than 170 million pounds of vehicles and other equipment as it rushes to wind down its role in the Afghanistan War by the end of 2014.
The massive disposal effort, which military officials call unprecedented, has unfolded largely out of sight amid an ongoing debate inside the Pentagon about what to do with the heaps of equipment that won't be returning home. Included in the destruction are thousands of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles, the hulking beige personnel carriers that cost about $1 million each that the Pentagon raced to build starting in 2007 to counter the threat of roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Overall, military planners have determined that more than $7 billion worth of equipment -- about 20 percent of what the United States military has in Afghanistan -- will not be shipped back, because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to send home.
That has left the Pentagon in a quandary about what to do with the items. Bequeathing a large share to the Afghan government would be challenging because of complicated rules governing war materiel donations to other countries. Also, there is concern that Afghanistan's fledgling forces would be unable to maintain it. Some gear may be sold or donated to other allied nations, but few of them are likely to be able to retrieve it from the war zone.
http://www.newsday.com/news/world/7-billion-in-afghan-war-gear-scrapped-1.5554683
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