“Kalashnikovs” from the Pentagon
The Pentagon has allocated more than $2 billion to purchase weapons and Soviet-style ammunition to Syrian opposition groups. This is stated in the report submitted by the Center for the study of corruption and organized crime (OCCRP) and the Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN). According to the authors, large-scale procurement began in September of 2015 during the administration of President Barack Obama. Moreover, the program was conducted separately from the already collapsed on the initiative of the President trump the CIA program of training rebels fighting against Syrian government forces. According to the magazine Foreign Policy, the U.S. Department of defense intentionally uses the documents are vague, not allowing to understand that the arms were sent in Syria. Experts warn that such practices could undermine international efforts to combat illicit trafficking in arms.
The U.S. Department of defense funneling arms of the Soviet sample units of the coalition “Power of a democratic Syria” (SDS) and other Syrian groups that resist the forces of Damascus. Writes about this edition of Foreign Policy. According to the authors of the report prepared by the Center for the study of corruption and organized crime (OCCRP) and the Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN), as of may 2017, the Pentagon spent more than $700 million to the Kalashnikov rifles, antitank grenade launchers (RPGs), mortars and ammunition.
In accordance with the contract to 2022 will be spent about $900 and additionally $600 budgeted. In total, according to experts, the U.S. military plans to spend $2.2 billion on weapons for the “Syrian allies”.
According to the report, purchases are via two channels: through the special operations Command of the Armed forces of the United States (United Special Operations Command, SOCOM), and Picatinny Arsenal, a little-known research organization in the state of new Jersey.