A number of times during the current war the Coalition Forces have discovered large stockpiles of Iraq’s ammunition and weapons. From photos and reports some of this stuff is pretty old – dating to the Iran-Iraq war, for example.
What will become of this stuff?
I know things like enemy tanks and artillery pieces are destroyed when found, but small arms and ammo seem like they might come in handy, if only for training purposes back in the States. Or is it too old, unrelable, odd-sized – or maybe even booby-trapped – to bother with? (In which case, the troops are in for one hell of a 4th of July shindig this year, eh?!)
I remember that, back when we invaded Grenada, the troops found tons of Kalashnikovs and ammo, which were then sold to Egypt with the tacit understanding that the arms would find their way to the rebels in Afghanistan. Not so smart in hindsight, perhaps.
Anyway, it is my understanding that most, if not all, of the munitions the coalition has found in Iraq are being destroyed.
A couple of day’s ago the BBC showed British soldiers cutting up a stash of captured small arms with blow torches and circular saws . It did say on the same report that some guns are being kept back to equip the new Iraqi army and police when thay are set up in post-war, democratic ( we hope ) Iraq.