190,000 US weapons 'disappear in Iraq'

190,000 US weapons 'disappear in Iraq'

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Monday August 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited



The US has lost about 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces since the 2003 invasion, according to an official report published in Washington.

The weapons include AK-47 machine guns, pistols, body armour and helmets, some of which will have ended up in the hands of insurgents.

The disclosure adds to the picture of the chaotic and clumsy administration of Iraq that has been emerging over the last four years.

The report, by the Government Accounting Office, which sent its report to Congress last week, found an alarming 30% gap between the number of weapons issued to Iraqi forces and records held by US forces in Iraq. No one in the Bush administration knows what happened to the weapons or where they are now.

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