Secret documents have revealed that thefts of "sensitive" military equipment, such as missiles and drones, have occurred at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria, and that the Pentagon may not be fully aware of the extent of these incidents. The American website "The Intercept" reported on confidential documents it obtained, detailing thefts that affected American military sites in Iraq and Syria. The report notes that the incidents come at a time when thefts involving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of military equipment designated for U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria were recorded between 2020 and 2022.
Although the report mentioned that U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria are engaged in operations against ISIS, experts also assert they are used for monitoring Iran. Additionally, since the outbreak of fighting between Israel and Hamas, these bases have been targeted by rocket and drone attacks in an undeclared war between the United States and Iran and its allied factions.
After highlighting the Pentagon's assurances that President Joe Biden has no higher priority than safeguarding the lives of American soldiers in the field, the site questioned how the United States can protect its troops while it cannot secure its military equipment from theft in the first place. The report quoted Stephanie Saville, director of the "Cost of War Project" at Brown University, stating, "We do not tend to think critically enough about the cascading effects of this costly U.S. military presence," adding that “the so-called war on terror is not over; it has changed. We can understand these weapon thefts as just one of the many political costs of that ongoing campaign."
The report detailed findings regarding thefts in Iraq, which the U.S. military has never fully disclosed, found in criminal investigation files obtained through the "Freedom of Information Act." It explained that military investigators were informed in February that 13 commercial drones, worth approximately $162,500, had been stolen from a U.S. facility in Erbil at some point last year, but investigators did not identify any suspects.
Additionally, it mentioned a separate investigation that indicated "multiple sensitive weapons and equipment," including night vision gear and Javelin shoulder-fired missile launchers, were stolen from the "Union-3" forward operating base in Baghdad or during their transfer to the base, with the U.S. government estimating losses at around $480,000. According to the report, investigators did not conclude that the thefts were an inside job, stating that "the participation of any American employee was not known." Conversely, investigators believe local residents are the suspects. The document indicates that "Iraqi criminal organizations and militias target convoys and containers of weapons and equipment."
It also refers to problems caused by local groups and citizens stealing U.S. containers outside the "Union-3" base due to insecurity. Earlier this year, the American site revealed at least four significant thefts and one incident of loss of U.S. weapons and equipment in Iraq and Syria from 2020 to 2022, including 40mm grenades, armor-piercing munitions, specialized field artillery tools, and unspecified "weapon system" tools. According to the report, two of these incidents occurred in bases in Syria and three in Iraq, with none of those thefts taking place at the "June 3" forward operating base.
The report underscored that the total number of thefts is unknown, possibly even to the Pentagon, adding that after more than two months, neither the Joint Task Force of Operation "Inherent Resolve" nor U.S. Central Command provided responses to any of the American site's questions about these weapon thefts in Iraq and Syria. The report has categorized the thefts and losses revealed by the American site as merely the latest accountability issues related to weapons that the U.S. military has been grappling with in Iraq and Syria.
It recalled an investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general in 2017, which concluded that $20 million worth of weapons in Kuwait and Iraq were "subject to loss or theft." A review conducted in 2020 revealed that U.S. forces working alongside American-allied Syrian groups had not accurately accounted for $715.8 million worth of equipment purchased for those local agents.
The report continued that losses related to weapons and ammunition are substantial, and the military has made significant efforts to prevent them in the past, noting that when the U.S. withdrew its forces from a site near the city of Kobani, Syria, in 2019, it launched airstrikes on the ammunition it left behind. The U.S. military also destroyed equipment and ammunition during its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
It pointed out that despite this, weeks after the withdrawal, American-made pistols, rifles, grenades, scopes, and night vision goggles spread in the arms markets there, and some were exported to Pakistan. The report concluded by stating that since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, it has become clearer than ever that U.S. bases in the Middle East have become targets for attacks against American facilities in the region.
