Pakistan eyes US military equipment from Afghanistan

[oFFbEAT]

They always leave behind equipment! No idea why but some rebels always seem to get American equipment AFTER these AMERICAN soldiers leave their soil...Not sure if the soldiers sell it to them so they can cause prob so that the American soldiers have a reason to come back or what not!

You're right, the Americans never try to solve any problem, they try to sustain it(even at the cost of burning their own hands).....because it keeps their defence industry running.....
IMHO, these weapons will neither go to Afghan Military or Pakistan Military, they will ultimately reach the Taliban, who will use them to destabilize the region(both Pak. and Afghan.) which is exactly what the U.S wants.....
They don't even care about the 10,000 NATO containers full of arms and ammunition which went missing in Pakistan....'cause they themselves facilitated the loot to give more weapon to Taliban.

Missing Nato containers: One-man-commission submits report to SC - DAWN.COM
NAB not serious in missing Nato containers case: SC - thenews.com.pk
US Embassy says no Nato, Isaf containers missing - thenews.com.pk

 

[Dubious]

Yeah. Let me know if I have to play along. We can spin a good web.

Alternative theory is always labelled that... ^^ plus your countryman (@oFFbEAT ) just recently agreed to

 

[Devil Soul]

Pakistan eyes US military equipment in Afghanistan | PAKISTAN - geo.tv
Posted: March 17, 2014 - 102 PKT
ISLAMABAD: The US military may have another option for disposing of $7 billion worth of armored vehicles and other equipment it’s struggling to get rid of now that its war in Afghanistan is ending.

Some of it could be driven across the border and handed over to Pakistan, part of an effort by the Pentagon to unload excess military supplies to US allies at no cost.

The discussions between American and Pakistani officials have been going on for months and center on leftover military hardware that the United States does not want to pay to ship or fly home.

Although no final decisions have been made, Pakistan is particularly interested in the US Army’s mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, which Pentagon officials say will have limited strategic value as US forces withdraw from Afghanistan this year.

But with Pakistan’s military expected to be battling Taliban insurgents for years, the MRAPs could help Pakistani forces slow their high casualty rate of more than 20,000 dead or injured troops since 2001.

“We will not take it for the sake of just taking it, and we will not take it because it’s free,” said one senior Pakistani military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations. “We will take it because we need it.”

About 150,000 Pakistani soldiers are along the country’s border with Afghanistan, and US officials are counting on them to help keep the pressure on militant groups after 2014.

But Pakistan’s troops remain vulnerable to roadside bombs and explosive devices, and their armored vehicles can withstand far less force than a US-made MRAP, officials said.

The United States had been a major weapons supplier to Pakistan for decades, but those sales slowed dramatically after the US military raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

Over the past year, the tension has eased, and leaders in both countries have stressed that they need to work together to try to ensure regional stability after the US-led coalition withdraws from Afghanistan.

Last fall, Secretary of State John F. Kerry signed a waiver authorizing US weapons sales to Pakistan through at least this year.

The backbone of the US military’s vehicle fleet in Afghanistan, MRAPs were designed to protect American troops from explosive devices. But each MRAP weighs as much as 40 tons, and Pentagon leaders have said it would potentially cost more than $100,000 per vehicle to ship them back to United States. They also have qualms about leaving them in Afghanistan, noting that the stock is far larger than what the Afghan army would be able to maintain.

The Washington Post reported in June that the US military was shredding hundreds of MRAPs for scrap metal, despite their initial cost of $400,000 to $700,000 each.

But Mark E. Wright, a Pentagon spokesman, said the military still has about 13,000 MRAPs scattered worldwide that remain in good working condition, including about 1,600 in Afghanistan.

The US government is offering them to allies for free on an “as-is, where-is” basis, Wright said. But the recipients, who would be vetted by the State Department, would be responsible for shipping them out of Afghanistan.

Twenty countries have expressed an interest, he added.

The Defense Department “is reviewing every request and is expediting the review process to support US retrograde timelines,” said Wright, noting that decisions must be made by the end of this year.

But Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that many countries have ultimately decided that it’s neither cost-effective nor practical for them to pay to collect the MRAPs from Afghanistan.

“It’s very expensive for countries to take those vehicles from Afghanistan,” he said.

Pakistan, however, shares a 1,500-mile border with Afghanistan. Coalition forces also use Pakistani highways and ports to ship material into and out of landlocked Afghanistan.

In January, the New York Times reported that Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan, also has been inquiring about receiving surplus US military hardware.

At the time, the newspaper noted that the US-led coalition was increasingly relying on Uzbekistan to transport equipment and supplies out of Afghanistan because supply routes through Pakistan were partly blocked.

Since then, however, a major Pakistani political party has lifted its blockade of NATO supply routes through the northern part of the country. Since January, there also have been several high-level meetings between US and Pakistani officials over ways to bolster cooperation.

A Pakistani security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the military is exploring the acquisition of night-vision and communications equipment.

The official said Pakistan stepped up its efforts to find more advanced counter-terrorism equipment and armor in the fall after a Pakistani army general was killed by a roadside bomb near the Afghan border. About 5,000 Pakistani troops have been killed in clashes with the Taliban or in terrorist attacks since 2001, including 114 over the past six months.

Siemon T. Wezeman, a senior researcher and South Asia expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks global weapons sales and transfers, said Pakistan also has reached out to Turkey in search of more heavily armored vehicles.

But Wezeman said a deal between the United States and Pakistan to transfer old MRAPs could benefit both countries.

Although Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been boosting the defense budget, Wezeman notes that Pakistan remains a cash-strapped nation. And US military commanders, he said, fear leaving surplus equipment in Afghanistan because of uncertainty about the Afghan army’s ability to fend off Taliban insurgents.

“Handing them all over to the Afghan army isn’t really an option,” Wezeman said. “There is a feeling in the US that the Afghan army is not totally reliable, so it may be safer to just park them in Pakistan.”

Still, US officials are mindful that any significant transfer of military hardware to Pakistan could complicate relations with Afghanistan and India, another US ally in the region.

Pakistan and India have fought three major wars since 1947, but Wezeman doubts that India would seriously object “to a few hundred MRAPs ending up in Pakistan.” He notes that the bulky vehicles were built to fight an insurgency and would have little value in a major cross-border war involving tanks and warplanes.

It’s less clear, however, how Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghan military leaders would react. Karzai, who is leaving office this year, is deeply skeptical of Pakistan and believes that the US-led coalition has not done enough to prepare the Afghan army for threats from Pakistan and other countries that border Afghanistan.

Even if the United States agrees to give Pakistan military hardware from Afghanistan, Pakistani officials stress that there are limits to what they’re willing to accept.

“Pakistan won’t become America’s junkyard,” one official said.

 

[Saifullah Sani]

Pak can get additional US defence equipment from Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: The US Embassy in Pakistan says Islamabad can get additional defence equipment being used by US forces stationed in Afghanistan.

In a statement issued here on Monday, the embassy said that US has received an application from Islamabad, requesting for the defence equipment.

The statement further said Afghanistan can also receive the US military gear. The US is expected to wrap-up its combat mission this year in Afghanistan.


‘Pak can get additional US defence equipment from Afghanistan’ - thenews.com.pk

 

[razgriz19]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is eligible to buy excess US military hardware in Afghanistan and the United States is currently reviewing Islamabad’s request for the same.

According to a statement issued by the US Embassy in Islamabad, military equipment that has been determined to be excess can be made available through the worldwide excess defense articles (EDA) program, which is open to all eligible countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This equipment will not be brought back with US forces from Afghanistan as they redeploy elsewhere, it added.

Pakistan has requested a variety of Excess Defense Articles (EDA), it said, adding the US is currently reviewing Pakistan’s request for EDA. If approved, this EDA is likely to be sourced from US stock outside Afghanistan.

The US Department of Defense manages the process for identifying recipients for excess defense articles with State Department approval. The US assists Pakistan through many security cooperation programs to build partnership capacity.

The statement said that decisions of who receives EDA are made on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration a range of factors including the need of potential recipients, regional security dynamics, how the recipient nations intend to use the equipment and the ability of an EDA recipient to sustain the equipment.

Final determinations of EDA are still being made, it added. – SAMAA

 

[Saifullah Sani]

Leftover US equipment in Afghanistan up for grabs for Pakistan

The US Embassy in Islamabad on Monday said in a statement that “military equipment that has been determined to be excess can be made available” to other countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
While no request for military equipment has been approved yet, the embassy did signal its intentions to engage in “security cooperation programmes” with Pakistan to “build partnership capacity”.
The statement said that the sale would ultimately be approved by the American State Department.
For more than a year, multiple law enforcement agencies have expressed interest in the equipment that has been moving through Pakistan for the Nato forces in Afghanistan. The Karachi police, for example, expressed interest in two models of the Humvee, an armoured personnel carrier.


Leftover US equipment in Afghanistan up for grabs for Pakistan – The Express Tribune

 

[CENTCOM]

The decision regarding the transport and removal of excess military equipment from Afghanistan post 2014 has been and is still under discussion, therefore, there have been many theories and speculations published in the media on this subject. The procedure put in place to make the excess equipment available is through program known as the EDA (Excess Defense Articles), which is open to eligible countries worldwide. The approval process for releasing equipment from the EDA goes through both the Defense and the State Department and as U.S. embassy in Islamabad has confirmed the U.S. has received request from Pakistan for equipment in the EDA. This does not necessarily mean that if approved, the equipment will be coming from Afghanistan as we have EDA equipment in the U.S. also. We urge you to wait and witness for yourself the outcome of this decision and rest assured that the notion that the U.S. is treating Pakistan as a “junkyard” is far from the truth. We stand by our ally in improving cooperation and strengthening security in the region.

Haroon Ahmad
DET – U.S. Central Command
www.facebook.com/centcomurdu

 

[dawn_news]

The decision regarding the transport and removal of excess military equipment from Afghanistan post 2014 has been and is still under discussion, therefore, there have been many theories and speculations published in the media on this subject. The procedure put in place to make the excess equipment available is through program known as the EDA (Excess Defense Articles), which is open to eligible countries worldwide. The approval process for releasing equipment from the EDA goes through both the Defense and the State Department and as U.S. embassy in Islamabad has confirmed the U.S. has received request from Pakistan for equipment in the EDA. This does not necessarily mean that if approved, the equipment will be coming from Afghanistan as we have EDA equipment in the U.S. also. We urge you to wait and witness for yourself the outcome of this decision and rest assured that the notion that the U.S. is treating Pakistan as a “junkyard” is far from the truth. We stand by our ally in improving cooperation and strengthening security in the region.

Haroon Ahmad
DET – U.S. Central Command
www.facebook.com/centcomurdu

You do realize Pakistan need these vehicles to put final nail in coffin of terrorists? No longer IED will be effective after that against army. And Afghans are not trust worthy people, you must have experienced drug addict unprofessional Afghan army with no concept of nationalism. Ready to sell themselves to Taliban when USA leaves.

 

[nana41]

@Aeronaut ! Under the world geopolitical situation recently developing, American Budgetary problems and Pakistan's internal security and lojistics difficulties, lt would be a very friendly gesture to offer U S Govt, to have its entire tracked, wheeled and towed equipment pre-positioned in Pakistan for the time being? .

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

It makes logical sense to give all equipment to Pakistani forces for their contribution to Peace efforts

 

[tarrar]

Most of the military hardware should be given to Pak Defence.

 

[viper46]

ek gaddi meri us mai say .... we need MRAPs MRAPs MRAPs MRAPs ....