All through latest historical past, the perceived weapon of selection for a terrorist (or freedom fighter, relying on one’s perspective) has been an AK-47 assault rifle. In the present day, within the aftermath of the so-called post-9/11 “world battle on terror,” it’s not unusual to see such fighters with a Glock 9mm pistol, or a Colt M4 carbine.
These are weapons paid-for by the US taxpayer and ostensibly supplied to forces joined in the reason for defeating terrorists and/or freedom fighters (once more, relying on the political opinions of the observer), however that find yourself within the arms of the latter as an alternative. Clearly, that’s by no means the end result Washington intends. And but, one way or the other, these weapons find yourself arming the very forces the US and its allies are attempting to defeat.
The newest instance of this phenomenon seems to contain Hamas and the assaults perpetrated by militants affiliated with that group on army and civilian targets in southern Israel. A video, the authenticity of which has but to be verified, purports to point out a Hamas fighter thanking Ukraine for the availability of small arms, ammunition, and hand grenades. Extra movies, taken throughout the precise assaults, present the Hamas fighters armed with a plethora of US-made weapons.
These movies have alarmed some US lawmakers, resembling Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia’s 14th District, who, within the speedy aftermath of the Hamas assault, Tweeted/Xeeted “We have to work with Israel to trace serial numbers on any US weapons utilized by Hamas towards Israel. Did they arrive from Afghanistan?” the Congresswoman asks. “Did they arrive from Ukraine? Extremely seemingly the reply is each.”
Any try and reply Marjorie Taylor Greene’s questions will greater than seemingly flip up data that ought to make the US authorities very uncomfortable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been saying since June of this 12 months that US-made anti-tank weapons supposed for Ukraine had been turning up on the Israeli border. Left unsaid by Netanyahu was how this had come to be – corruption is rampant inside Ukraine, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has reported on a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} of assist being diverted into the arms of events it was not initially supposed for. By my calculations based mostly on conversations with quite a few knowledgeable sources, the quantity diverted might be as excessive as six out of each ten {dollars} of help despatched to Ukraine. It’s one factor if this entails cash; it’s one other factor altogether if this entails weapons.
The vast availability of US-made weapons on the worldwide black market utilized by terrorists/freedom fighters to arm themselves is reflective of the lax strategy the US takes with regards to offering army help to events concerned in lively fight. The US seems to be extra interested by reinforcing the political messaging connected to such deliveries–that the US is actively supporting buddies in want. The precise security-related points of this effort, nonetheless, appear to flee most senior US coverage makers.
This grew to become evident in Might 2022, when Rand Paul, a Republican Senator from Kentucky, tried to have an inspector basic put in place to observe and account for some $45 billion in army help to Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden. Senator Paul’s movement was overwhelmingly defeated by a Congress which gave the impression to be comfortable to imagine a “hear no evil, see no evil, converse no evil” posture when it got here to the problem of Ukraine and corruption.
The problem of US weapons falling into the arms of individuals not just for whom the weapons weren’t supposed, however –extra critically– into the arms of individuals the weapons had been supposed to struggle towards, who then use them towards American allies, isn’t a brand new one. Again in 2007, Turkish police began recovering weapons from killed Kurdistan Staff Celebration (or PKK) fighters inside Türkiye containing serial numbers affiliated with weapons shipments made by the US to Iraqi forces. The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by the US State Division, whereas Türkiye is a member of NATO.
US weapons supplied to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the aim of combating Yemen’s Houthi rebels had been being seized by the Houthi on the battlefield and being turned towards the unique homeowners. Furthermore, a few of these weapons discovered their manner into the arms of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Weapons supplied by the US to the previous Afghan Military turned up in Kashmir, recovered from the our bodies of pro-Pakistani Islamist terrorists/freedom fighters who had, previous to being killed in Kashmir, fought alongside the Afghan Taliban towards the US and its Afghan allies. Different US weapons from Ukraine started displaying up in Africa, within the Lake Chad area, within the arms of Boko Haram insurgents combating towards US-armed troopers from Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
The truth is that the US has grow to be one of many main sources of weapons for terrorists/freedom fighters around the globe. Whereas Marjorie Taylor Greene is appropriate to demand solutions with regards to the problem of the safety of Israel, a long-time American ally, the identical questions will be requested about nearly each safety help program instituted by the US within the post-9/11 period. It seems that America’s strategy to combating the worldwide battle on terror has ended up making these whom it calls terrorists extra able to finishing up the acts of violence US coverage portends to be making an attempt to cease. The unhappy reality is that America, in its rush to arm the world, in some ways finally ends up being its personal worst enemy.
The statements, views and opinions expressed on this column are solely these of the creator and don’t essentially characterize these of RT.
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