See, that's the problem. You seem to beleive that, because they cannot produce paper that says so, that the weapons didn''t actually go to the ANA.
Like it or not, the ANA runs the ANA. Fouled up. Probably. Better than the alternative? Yep. They tried the alternative. They are fighting with it now.
Pathetic. Not so much.
Cocked up paperwork is a fact of life ....
I don't want to start a peeing contest, but let's clarify what I am saying ...
First, any government has a basic responsibility to its citizens to responsibly and transparently carry out its business. A prime example of this
not happening is our glorious gun registration program - no accountability, no results, and astounding cost overruns.
The point of my post was the irony that the same government (different departments) micromanages exports to a friendly country and ally, but cannot even do the most rudimentary paperwork on armaments sent to an insecure environment. Definitely pathetic.
Did the stuff get to the ANA? Most, probably. But the GAO says the US government simply cannot document
where the stuff went. I said nothing about record keeping in the ANA.
Do I expect the ANA to carefully document the disposition of received arms? Yup. That should be part of the training that we are supposed to be giving them. Is it realistic to expect it to happen soon? Nope. But if we want a functioning government (the whole point of the mission), they need to get there.
The bottom line is that the rear echelon clerk types don't do the bare minimum, while the guys at the sharp end of the stick are doing everything they can. The administrative incompetence of the US government in Iraq, and now Afghanistan, is epic, and compromises popular support for the main mission in both countries. Unforgivable.
