MILITARY INTELLIGENCE?

There are many oxymorons, "Christian Science" is one of our favourites but the following news item would probably put "Military Intelligence" up there with the worst of them. "The US military cannot account for 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to the Iraqi security forces, an official US report says. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Pentagon cannot track about 30% of the weapons distributed in Iraq over the past three years. The Pentagon did not dispute the figures, but said it was reviewing arms deliveries procedures. About $19.2bn has been spent by the US since 2003 on Iraqi security forces. GAO, the investigative arm of the US Congress, said at least $2.8bn of this money was used to buy and deliver weapons and other equipment. Correspondents say it is now feared many of the weapons are being used against US forces on the ground in Iraq." (BBC News, 6 August) RD