Israel's Defense seeks to buy U.S. Military equipment in Iraq

Israel's Defense Ministry is negotiating with the Pentagon to buy U.S. military equipment in Iraq that's due to be shelved as surplus or sold as the last contingent of U.S. forces prepared to withdraw.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli military "is looking to renew its aging fleet of Humvee combat vehicles with ones that the United States will be phasing out as it reduces its troops numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Israel is also interested in acquiring surplus weapons and ammunition the U.S. will no longer require following the withdrawal."
But it's likely that other regional states, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both major buyers of U.S. weapons and equipment, could seek to get their hands on U.S. equipment.
With the U.S. Defense Department facing hefty funding reductions under U.S. President Barack Obama's budgetary cutbacks, the Pentagon may decide it makes more sense to auction off some equipment than go the expense of shipping it stateside.
The Israeli plan seems to be that if the U.S. military does sell or auction off Humvees and other equipment at bargain prices the surplus gear can be trucked west across the desert through Jordan, the Jewish state's eastern neighbor with which it has a peace treaty, to Israel.
It's not clear whether the Israelis expect to pay cash for whatever U.S. gear they can acquire in Iraq, or whether this would fall under the $3 billion a year in military aid the Jewish state receives from the United States.
Iraq's emergent armed forces and security services are likely to be given some of the U.S. equipment or allowed to buy it at discount prices.
The United States began withdrawing its forces from Iraq after signing a Status of Forces Agreement with the Baghdad government in December 2008.
The pullout began in June 2009 and is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31.
It involves the U.S. military's largest logistics operation since quitting Vietnam 40 years ago -- 1 million tons of arms and equipment that includes 43,000 vehicles, 600-plus helicopters, 120,000 containers and 34,000 tons of ammunition and ordnance.
The Americans are abandoning some 300 bases and other infrastructure, which the Iraqis are in the process of taking over.
These range from forward operating bases to sprawling 6,000-acre air bases like Balad, north of Baghdad, which resembles a small American city with movie theaters, fast-food outlets, massage parlors, an ice-making plant and a sewage treatment center.
Some equipment has been shipped east to Afghanistan or pre-positioned in bases in the Persian Gulf for future operations in the region. One of the biggest such bases is in Kuwait, Iraq's southern neighbor.
Other materiel will be returned to the United States to be refurbished and put back in service.
On Aug. 5, the U.S. military said nearly 60 percent of the equipment has been moved out of Iraq under the colossal withdrawal operation, with the remainder on track for disposal.
To date, 1.7 million pieces of military gear, from 67-ton M1A2 Abrams tanks to coffee makers, have been shipped out, says Air Force Maj. John Rozsnyai, who heads the U.S. Transport Command's joint planning team for the withdrawal.
That leaves 1 million items to go but Rozsnyai said it's not yet been determined whether all these will be shipped out, given to the Iraqis or sold off.
The equipment left in Iraq is worth billions of dollars. The Iraqis were hoping that their U.S.-trained and armed military would inherit much of the U.S. equipment.
The U.S. Congress, many of whose members want the Iraqi government to pay for much of the U.S. military operation since 2003, has limited the total value of equipment, such as computers and furniture, that can be left to around $15 million per base.
But commanders have argued that it's more economical to simply turn over equipment to Iraq because of the cost of shipping it back to the United States is prohibitive.

Source : htt p://www.spacewar .com/reports/Israel_seeks_to_buy_US_equipment_in_Iraq_999.html

As Libya rebels march, Covert Role of NATO State Emerges

The role some NATO states are playing to help Libyan rebels bring down Moamer Kadhafi puts the alliance in an awkward position after repeated denials that it works hand-in-hand with the rebellion.
British Defence Secretary Liam Fox slightly lifted the veil of secretive operations when he said Thursday that NATO was providing "intelligence and reconnaissance assets" to help rebels hunt down the elusive Libyan leader.
The British defence ministry then announced Friday that it had bombed a "large headquarters bunker" in Kadhafi's home town of Sirte, an operation that came as rebels geared up to launch an offensive there after their Tripoli triumph.
NATO has consistently rejected claims that it is coordinating operations with the rebels, commanding special forces on the ground, or trying to kill Kadhafi since the bombing campaign began in March.
"No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Kadhafi or anybody else," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Thursday after Fox's remarks.
Lungescu insisted that NATO was sticking to its United Nations mandate, limited to protecting civilians from any attacks. "There is no military coordination with the rebels," she said.
The NATO denials are "absolute rubbish," said Shashank Joshi, a Libyan war expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
"It's a necessary fiction to stay within the bounds of (UN) Resolution 1973 and to avoid legal and political difficulties," Joshi told AFP.
Russia and China withheld their vetos at the UN Security Council to allow the resolution's adoption in March, but they have since accused NATO of going beyond the scope of its mandate.
"There's overwhelming evidence that NATO was not only helping the rebels but that it was a decisive and critical partner to the rebels," Joshi said.
"It was really engaged in a close and intimate level of coordination and support, without which the rebels could not have won this conflict, so I don't believe a single word NATO is saying," he added.
An AFP correspondent found on Thursday French and British operatives based at rebel eastern front command facility in Zuwaytina, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) southwest of the opposition capital Benghazi.
France and Britain have spearheaded the NATO air war, launching the first salvos along with the United States on March 19. The three nations later sent military advisers to Benghazi.
British newspapers revealed this week the role played by Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) forces.
The Daily Telegraph, quoting defence sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, and are now focusing on tracking down Kadhafi.
The Times newspaper reported that the SAS had been working with Qatari special forces. While the Qataris were operating along the front lines with rebel fighters, the SAS had performed a more discreet role further back coordinating with NATO pilots, the paper said, quoting Ministry of Defence sources.
A Western official stressed that there was a distinction between forces led by national governments and the air campaign directed by NATO's command structure.
"I think that's the unfortunate sort of nuance that was missing," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said regarding Fox's statement that NATO was helping in the search for Kadhafi.
"The fact that some NATO nations have some individuals on the ground, it should be made clear they are not under NATO command," the official said. "Unfortunately people have a habit of calling everything down there NATO."