GAO: ‘Unclear’ if Pentagon Monitoring Stories of Misused Assist in Ukraine | The Gateway Pundit

This story initially was revealed by Real Clear Wire

By Philip Wegmann
Actual Clear Wire

Whereas the Pentagon has assured Congress that no U.S. navy tools despatched to Ukraine has been diverted, stolen, or in any other case misappropriated, a new report from the Authorities Accountability Workplace couldn’t decide if the Division of Protection was monitoring allegations of misuse two years into the battle.

“If you never look, you will never find it,” a supply acquainted with how the report was compiled stated of the worst-case chance that support was being misappropriated.

The report comes as President Biden struggles to maintain the provision traces open to Ukraine. Though a majority of Congress helps sending additional support to assist maintain again the Russian onslaught, and the Senate handed a bipartisan support package deal late final month, Home Republicans have but to approve the newest spherical of now-stalled navy help.

America stays the main provider of munitions and different support to Ukraine, offering greater than $42 billion in help since Russia’s invasion. A lot of it has come by the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which permits the president to switch tools from American shops on to allies. The annual quantity was restricted by legislation to $100 million a 12 months till Congress lifted the cap to $14.5 billion.

The sheer tonnage of provides and the velocity of its cargo, in line with the GAO report, has left the Pentagon with out “quality data” to evaluate its supply. Guaranteeing munitions and materiel arrive in the correct arms has led to unprecedented challenges on prime of the prevailing chaos of battle. Most officers had been evacuated from Ukraine way back, as an illustration, and those that stay are restricted from leaving Kyiv to make sure supply of shipments earlier than it’s used or destroyed on the battlefield.

Division of Protection officers, nevertheless, keep that they and their Ukrainian allies are as much as the problem. “We think the Ukrainians are using properly what they’ve been given,” Colin Kahl, previously the Pentagon’s prime coverage official, told Congress over a year ago, assuring lawmakers that the DoD conducts common audits and “we are laser-focused on this issue.”

Although a nascent democracy, Ukraine has a historical past of corruption. Mismanagement or graft may threaten future support, a message that has been relayed from the White Home to President Volodymyr Zelensky instantly.

“Still no indication that there’s been any kind of widespread corruption or inappropriate use of U.S. capabilities,” John Kirby, a nationwide safety communications adviser to President Biden, told RealClearPolitics last October. As America reprises its position as an arsenal of democracy, the spokesman described a “hand-to-mouth” state of affairs the place munitions are used as quickly as they arrive.

“It’s a matter of days before some stuff gets there,” Kirby continued, “and then a matter of days more before it is being used on the battlefield.”

That form of haste may very properly make waste, or what the GAO report described as “end-use violations involving defense articles provided to the country.” It’s exactly as a result of a lot has been supplied so shortly that the nonpartisan authorities watchdog sees threat.

In accordance with the report, the Pentagon “is generally not tracking” the standing of automobiles and armaments that make up nearly all of provides. Extra delicate objects, akin to night time imaginative and prescient capabilities and sure superior missiles, are being monitored by up to date procedures to account for his or her supply into hostile environments. DoD officers usually cooperate with their Ukrainian counterparts, the report discovered, through video calls, electronic mail, and textual content messages to make sure the receipt and standing of these provides.

Complicating issues additional, there isn’t any shared definition of “delivered” among the many branches of the U.S. navy. Military officers advised GAO they thought-about materiel delivered as soon as they left an “Army point of origin,” although they may very well be days or even weeks in transit earlier than arriving within the arms of Ukrainians. The Marine Corps, in contrast, solely marked objects delivered as soon as they acquired electronic mail affirmation from DoD officers or their Ukrainian counterparts.

“The U.S. has provided a large volume of equipment in a very short period of time, and it is unclear whether DOD guidance and processes have been adjusted to accurately account for all of these items,” warned Chelsa Kenney, the director of worldwide affairs at GAO.

Extra than simply delivery delays and a logistical nightmare, the higher threat is the worst-case state of affairs: American {hardware} falling into the arms of an adversary.

The Pentagon tracked one allegation that U.S. provides had been transferred to Russian forces, a narrative which, in line with the report, DoD officers on the bottom in close by Poland deemed not credible and “consistent with Russian disinformation.”

And but, the GAO discovered that the Protection Safety Cooperation Company, the DoD workplace liable for such shipments, had “not consistently tracked” allegations of that chance.

“While DOD officials said there had been no credible evidence of diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine,” the report states, “it is unclear whether all allegations are being tracked.” The report additionally warned that with out monitoring these allegations, “DOD may face an increased risk of real or perceived defense article losses that can undermine Ukraine’s war efforts.”

For its half, per the GAO report, the DSCA said the company was “only responsible for tracking the allegations that it receives and is not required to proactively identify allegations. Further, officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense said DSCA was not responsible for tracking unverifiable claims meant to discredit Ukraine’s weapons accountability efforts.”

The GAO included of their report eight separate advisable reforms, which the DoD consented to partially or totally. In a letter from Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of protection, that was included within the report, the DoD declined a suggestion to require which allegations of misuse must be recorded and tracked. In accordance with Cooper, the DoD already has adequate laws in place.

It will do little to pacify Republicans desperate to rein within the battle funding.

“The Biden administration has spent two years deceiving the American people, claiming they’ve closely tracked the military material we’ve sent to Ukraine. The GAO’s report not only proves them wrong, it references allegations that U.S. military equipment ended up in the hands of Russian military forces,” Sen. JD Vance, an Ohio Republican and former U.S. Marine, advised RCP.

“This is a major problem. I plan to immediately introduce legislation to hold the Biden administration accountable for these errors,” Vance added.

This text was initially revealed by RealClearPolitics and made out there through RealClearWire.