A billion dollars in weapons sent to Ukraine “lost” in Pentagon inventories

BY ANDREW THORNEBROOKE for The Epoch Times January 15, 2024 11:46 p.m. Updated: January 16, 2024 2:12 p.m.

The Pentagon "failed to maintain an accurate inventory" of bombs, drones and missiles, watchdog report says.

The United States is unable to trace more than $1 billion in weapons and other military equipment it supplied to Ukraine , according to a Pentagon audit .

The Pentagon's inspector general reports that 59% of the $1.7 billion in defense equipment spending is attributable to unlocated equipment.

This equipment was required to be subject to Enhanced End-Use Control (EEUM), which requires additional levels of verification and protection for certain items, including Stinger and Tomahawk missiles, unmanned aircraft, and small-scale bombs. diameter.

The audit says the Pentagon "failed to maintain an accurate inventory" of items and failed to update key databases in a timely manner.

According to the report, several confounding variables — including limited numbers of people, restricted travel within Ukraine and a lack of controls to validate key data — are to blame for this situation.

It is important to note, however, that the report was unable to verify whether the offending systems had been illicitly diverted from their final destination or whether they were simply not found in the corresponding databases.

“Our assessment does not have sufficient scope to determine whether there has been misappropriation of this aid,” the report states.

“…significant staffing limitations and transparent management challenges remain.

Joe Biden's aid to Ukraine under fire

The Biden administration emphasizes that there is no evidence that the untraced weapons were stolen or diverted from their original use.

“There is no credible evidence of illicit diversion of advanced U.S.-supplied conventional weapons to Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters.

“The fact is that we have observed the Ukrainians using these capabilities on the battlefield. We find that they use them effectively. »

According to General Ryder, any information to the contrary is disinformation spread by the Russians.

Whatever the Pentagon's confidence in the matter, the audit undermines two years of assurances given by the Biden administration regarding the establishment of rigorous controls capable of preventing the misuse of American military aid to Ukraine. The administration's attempts to send billions of dollars in additional weapons to the Eastern European country could be affected.

Joe Biden is currently working to gain support to pass a massive $105 billion additional defense spending bill , which would send $61 billion in additional aid to Ukraine.

The additional request is currently stalled in Congress, where Democratic and Republican lawmakers are at odds over how best to balance funding priorities for Ukraine, Israel and the U.S. southern border.

Biden and many department heads have said the move would benefit the U.S. economy, but his critics have accused the administration of profiting from war , prioritizing defense contractor profits over security. nationality of the country.

A defense against this charge was not made easier by the Pentagon's repeated failure to pass audits of its accounts for six consecutive years. In November, only seven of the Pentagon's 29 subagencies received a "satisfactory" rating in the department-wide audit, representing no improvement over the previous year. The systems that track some $3.8 trillion in military assets are not doing what they are supposed to do, the independent audit finds .

The new report on monitoring in Ukraine also reveals that the Pentagon did not even maintain the serial numbers of some defense items in Ukraine, as required by U.S. regulatory procedure.

Defense Department officials told auditors they hope to have systems in place to improve oversight by next year.

With Associated Press