America’s Attempt To Send Munitions to Foreign Allies Gets an ‘A’ for Effort, ‘D’ for Reliability

Deals to ship American arms to needy foreign forces are no guarantee they will get there ready for action.That’s borne out in the case of shipments to the beleaguered Republic of China on Taiwan as Communist China is intensifying pressure to intimidate the Republic’s leaders into bowing to Beijing.The Pentagon came out with a stinging rebuke of those responsible for the “sustained water damage” discovered in military gear awaiting shipment to Taiwan as well as in other equipment that was “not mission ready” when it got there.The report did not name names but was clearly intended as a warning of the need to make sure the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms and ammunition that America is shipping overseas, notably for ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine, arrive in usable condition.The “evaluation,” entitled the “Tracking and Accountability of Presidential Drawdown Equipment Provided to Taiwan,” said the Pentagon, “did not effectively and efficiently implement accountability controls for Presidential Drawdown equipment delivered to Taiwan from November 2023 through March 2024.”The Pentagon inspector general, Robert P. Storch, adopted particularly strong language in outlining “the significant negative consequences of failing to follow established Department of Defense policies for delivery of assistance to key security cooperation partners.”“Had policies been followed,” he said, “the DoD would have been able to provide Taiwan with military equipment in acceptable condition as mandated in the Presidential Drawdown Authority.”The damage affected a relatively small portion of the $345 million authorized as military aid by President Biden last year, but the Pentagon report took pains to publicize its larger significance. Although no charges were announced, the inference was that those in charge of the gear, including body amor and ammunition, faced reprimands.“The equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy,” said Mr. Storch, “eroding Taiwan’s confidence in the United States as a reliable source of assistance.”The Pentagon announcement quoted the deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security as having embellished on the significance of any lapse in the shipment of military equipment. The announcement did not name the deputy assistant secretary but presumably was referring to Mria Resnick, who held the post until her appointment three weeks ago as deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian affairs.“Taiwan is a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific, as well as a chief supplier of semiconductors vital to the global economy and U.S. defense manufacturing,” the deputy assistant secretary was quoted as saying. The statement noted “the marked increase” in Communist Chinese air and military activity around Taiwan since 2021, a year before Speaker Pelosi enraged Beijing by leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan.Since then, said the statement, “The United States prioritized strengthening Taiwan’s defense capabilities by using the Presidential Drawdown Authority to directly transfer existing U.S. military stock to Taiwan.”The American Institute on Taiwan — a de facto embassy responsible for American relations with the free Chinese government — released photos of water-damaged body armor that had been stored for three months at Travis Air Force Base in California awaiting shipment to Taiwan.“More than 340 pallets of items sustained water damage,” said the report. “Unpacking, drying, and inventorying the wet and moldy equipment” took weeks. Half a dozen machine guns, it said, were rattling around bereft of “wrapping or cushioning.” The damaged shipments also included 2.7 million rounds of ammunition, some of which had expired and were photographed loose in boxes.

America’s Attempt To Send Munitions to Foreign Allies Gets an ‘A’ for Effort, ‘D’ for Reliability

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