Thousands of weapons the United States has provided Iraqi security forces cannot be accounted for, according to a report commissioned by the US Congress .
The report, prepared at the request of the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Virginia Republican John Warner, also found that major challenges remained that put at risk the Defence Department's goal of strengthening Iraqi security forces by transferring all logistics operations to the Defence Ministry by the end of 2007.
A spokesman for Warner said the senator read the report over the weekend in preparation for a meeting tomorrow with Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
Warner, who requested the report in May, "believes it is essential that Congress and the American people continue to be kept informed by the inspector general on the equipping and logistical capabilities of the Iraqi army and security forces, since these represent an important component of overall readiness," said Warner spokesman John Ullyot.
The inspector general's office released its report yesterday in a series of three audits finding that:
- Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraqi security forces is missing. Many others cannot be repaired because parts or technical manuals are lacking;
- "Significant challenges remain that put at risk" the US military's goal of strengthening Iraqi security forces by transferring all logistics operations to the Defence Ministry by the end of 2007;
- "The unstable security environment in Iraq touches every aspect" of the Provincial Reconstruction Team program, in which US government experts help Iraqis develop regional governmental institutions.
The Pentagon cannot account for 14,030 weapons — almost 4 per cent of the semiautomatic pistols, assault rifles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other weapons it began supplying to Iraq since the end of 2003.
The audit on logistics capabilities said there is a "significant risk" that the Iraqi Interior Ministry "will not be capable of assuming and sustaining logistics support for the Iraqi local and national police forces in the near term."
That support includes equipment maintenance, transportation of people and gear and health resources for soldiers and police.