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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Supplying the civil war

An eyeopening article in the NYTimes on the Iraqi arms blackmarket. US supplied Glocks, RPG's, and AK's in their original packaging, even Iraqi police vehicles, all available on request straight from Iraqi forces.
The weapons (American issued to Iraqi forces) are easy to find, resting among others in the semihidden street markets here, where weapons are sold in tea houses, the back rooms of grocery kiosks, cosmetics stores and rug shops, or from the trunks of cars. Proprietors show samples for immediate purchase and offer to take orders — 10 guns can be had in two hours, they say, and 100 or more the next day.....

Tracing American-issued weapons back to Iraqi units that sell them is especially difficult because the United States did not register serial numbers for almost all of the 370,000 small arms purchased for Iraqi security forces, according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

I guess the question is, as we plan to significantly increase the Iraqi forces weaponry, what percentage will end up on the black market, and, in turn, aimed at American troops?

(and should I ask who is buying 100 weapons at a time?)