{"id":2077233,"date":"2023-10-23T22:32:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T02:32:04","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-10-23T22:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T02:36:39","slug":"republicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-in-hamass-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-in-hamass-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Questions Pentagon on US Weapons in Hamas Possession"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frepublicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-in-hamass-hands%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2077233&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Republicans Demand Answers from Pentagon\u2062 on American-Made Weapons Ending up\u2063 in the Wrong Hands<\/h2>\n<p>Citing reports\u200c that advanced U.S.-made firearms have\u200d ended up in the possession of the Hamas\u2062 terror group in Gaza, several House \u2062Oversight Committee Republicans are demanding answers \u200dfrom the Pentagon about what&#8217;s being\u200c done to make sure American-made weapons don&#8217;t end up in\u200d the wrong hands.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>\u201cThe Committee has seen reports that U.S.-manufactured weapons are being redistributed\u2062 and resold in secondary markets to terrorist organizations, including Hamas,\u201d wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene \u200b(R-Ga.) in an <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/10.23.2023-Dept.-Defense.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oct. 23 letter<\/a> \u200dto Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Comer and Ms. Greene cited a series of media reports indicating that American-made weapons\u2064 were being diverted and ending up \u2064in the hands of terrorists.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<h2 class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/h2>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-4 sm:line-clamp-3\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/world\/pentagon-chief-concerned-about-threat-to-us-troops-in-middle-east-5514742?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"text-sm sm:text-base\">Pentagon Chief Concerned About Threats to US Troops in Middle East<\/h3>\n<p>            <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">10\/22\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[70px] sm:basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/world\/pentagon-chief-concerned-about-threat-to-us-troops-in-middle-east-5514742?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\">\n            <picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" https:><\/source><source type=\"image\/*\" https:><\/source>\n            <\/picture>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-4 sm:line-clamp-3\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/us-forces-attacked-by-suicide-drones-in-iraq-pentagon-5512798?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"text-sm sm:text-base\">US \u200bForces\u2063 Attacked by Suicide\u200d Drones\u2064 in Iraq:\u200d Pentagon<\/h3>\n<p>            <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">10\/18\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[70px] sm:basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/us-forces-attacked-by-suicide-drones-in-iraq-pentagon-5512798?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\">\n            <picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" https:><\/source><source type=\"image\/*\" https:><\/source>\n            <\/picture>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One source of these U.S.-made weapons is reportedly \u200bthe roughly $7 billion stockpile left behind in\u2064 the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Another\u200d is related to the arms the United States is providing to Ukraine amid its\u200c war with Russia but that are being diverted\u2062 to\u2063 the Middle East by various actors, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-in-hamass-hands\/\" title=\"GOP Questions Pentagon on US Weapons in Hamas Possession\">including gun-smuggling criminal groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The potential possession of U.S. weapons by terrorists is alarming in light of the terrorist group&#8217;s recent horrific \u2062attack on Israel,&#8221;\u200d the pair of lawmakers wrote, \u200breferring to the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas operatives that killed around 1,500 Israelis, mostly civilians\u2014many of \u200bthem in barbaric fashion.<\/p>\n<p>In their letter, they demanded a \u200bstaff briefing from the Pentagon by \u2062the end of\u2064 October on what procedures the DOD has in place &#8220;for preventing, addressing, and mitigating weapon diversion abroad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The DOD did not immediately respond to a request for\u2062 comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>A\u200d Ukrainian serviceman checks his U.S-made M4A1 carbine after cleaning it at a base in\u2063 the Donetsk \u2064region, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, \u20622023. \u200c(Yasuyoshi Chima\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>&#8216;Arsenal of \u200cAnarchy&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>In their letter, Mr. Comer and Ms. Greene cited a number of media reports \u200cindicating that American-made weapons were \u2063ending up in the \u2064hands \u200bof those who may wish to use them to harm \u2062the United States \u2063and its allies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>One of these is \u200ba June 15\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/israel-worries-us-weapons-ukraine-are-ending-irans-hands-1806131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report by Newsweek<\/a> that\u200d cites a high-ranking Israel Defense\u2063 Forces (IDF) commander as saying\u200d that the Israeli military was concerned that U.S.-made weapons provided to \u200cUkraine were being diverted and ending\u2062 up in the hands of Israel&#8217;s enemies in the\u200c Middle East.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We are \u2064very worried that some of these capabilities are going to fall to Hezbollah and Hamas&#8217; hands,&#8221; the IDF\u200b commander told the publication.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>Since\u200c the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in February\u200d 2022, the United States <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has sent<\/a> over \u200b$46 billion \u2062in military assistance to Kyiv, sparking worries \u200bthat some of that \u200bmassive flow of arms was being \u2063diverted and ending up in other regions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>While a \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/globalinitiative.net\/analysis\/russia-ukraine-war-illegal-arms-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report in March<\/a> from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) found that \u200b&#8221;there is currently no substantial outflow of weapons from the Ukrainian conflict zone,&#8221; it warned of \u200cthe \u2063prospect\u200d of serious proliferation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The report&#8217;s authors warned in a statement\u2064 about the existence\u200d of a threat\u200c that, when\u200c the war ends, &#8220;Ukraine&#8217;s battlefields could and\u2063 will become the new\u200d arsenal of\u2062 anarchy, arming \u2064everyone from insurgents \u200din \u2062Africa to gangsters in the streets of Europe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While it&#8217;s impossible to tell without further investigation where\u200b they&#8217;re coming from, it seems some\u2062 U.S.-made weapons are finding their way to Gaza and into the hands of Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>In their letter, the GOP lawmakers said that &#8220;recently released photos show \u200dHamas terrorists allegedly holding what appear \u2064to be\u2062 H4A1 Carbines,&#8221; a type of weapon that they point out was specially designed for U.S. Special Operations Forces.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This would not be the first\u2063 time our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">military service members<\/a> and allies have\u2063 been targeted by terrorist organizations misappropriating American-made weapons,&#8221; the lawmakers wrote, citing \u2062the massive $7\u200b billion arsenal that ended up in the hands of the Taliban.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>A Ukrainian serviceman checks his U.S-made M4A1 carbine after cleaning it at a base in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, \u2064on Feb. 23, 2023. (Yasuyoshi\u2063 Chima\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Taliban Seize $7 Billion Worth \u200dof US Weapons and Equipment<\/h2>\n<p>After\u200d U.S.\u2063 forces withdrew from Afghanistan in the\u2063 summer of 2021, they left behind billions of dollars of American-made weapons and equipment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>A Pentagon watchdog <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dodig.mil\/In-the-Spotlight\/Article\/3129145\/lead-inspector-general-for-operation-enduring-sentinel-and-operation-freedoms-s\/#:~:text=The%20DoD%20estimated%20that%20U.S.,weapons%2C%20and%20other%20military%20equipment.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported in August 2022<\/a> that &#8220;U.S.-funded equipment valued at\u2063 $7.12 billion was in the\u200c inventory of the former Afghan government when it collapsed, much of which has since been \u200bseized by \u200dthe Taliban.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>The\u200d report, which was confirmed by the DOD, indicated that the equipment that had fallen \u200dinto Taliban hands included military \u200baircraft, \u2062ground vehicles, weapons, and other military equipment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The items that ended up in Taliban hands included large equipment like Black Hawk helicopters\u2062 and Humvees, as well as small but \u2063sophisticated arms like M16 assault rifles\u200b and M4\u200c carbines.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have \u200calready seen Taliban fighters \u2062armed with U.S.-made weapons they seized from the Afghan forces. This \u2064poses a significant threat to the\u200b United States and\u200b our allies,&#8221; Rep. Michael\u2063 McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee,\u200c told Reuters in an email last year.<\/p>\n<p>Lt. Col. \u2062Emron Musavi, an Indian \u200darmy spokesperson, told CNBC \u200bin an email last year that weapons left behind by \u2064U.S. forces \u2062during the withdrawal from Afghanistan were\u2064 making their way into other conflict zones, including in \u2064India-controlled Kashmir, which some \u200bterror groups are trying to annex for Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can \u2062be safely assumed that they have\u2063 access to the \u200cweapons\u2064 left behind,\u201d he \u2063told the outlet,\u200d amid\u200d reports that \u2063operatives\u2062 from Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, \u200dtwo Pakistan-based\u2063 groups designated by the United States as\u200d terrorist organizations, had been spotted with U.S.-made arms like M4s and M16s.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/08\/20\/taliban-war-chest-1200x800.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p>Military vehicles transferred by the U.S. \u2062to the Afghan National\u2063 Army in February 2021. (Afghanistan \u2063Ministry of Defense\/via Reuters)<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Taliban stand guard at an\u2063 entrance gate outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, on Aug.\u200c 17, 2021. (Javed \u200cTanveer\/AFP via Getty \u2064Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Demands for \u200bOversight<\/h2>\n<p>The letter from Mr. Comer\u2062 and Ms. Greene \u200bis\u2064 not the \u200bfirst time Republicans \u2063have pressed the Pentagon on U.S.-made \u2063weapons falling \u2062into the wrong hands.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Shortly after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, \u2064several Republican senators demanded the DOD provide \u2062full accounting over the weapons and equipment that were captured by the Taliban.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>\u201cAs we watched the images coming out of \u200dAfghanistan as the Taliban retook the country, we were \u200chorrified\u200d to see U.S. equipment\u2014including UH-60 Black Hawks\u2014in the hands of the Taliban,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cassidy.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/cassidy-rubio-colleagues-press-biden-administration-on-us-military-equipment-in-taliban-hands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), \u200cBill\u2063 Cassidy (R-La.) and \u2064two dozen other\u200b senators wrote<\/a> to Mr. Austin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt is unconscionable \u2063that \u2062high-tech military equipment \u2062paid for by U.S. taxpayers has fallen into the\u2062 hands of the Taliban and their \u200cterrorist allies,\u201d the Republicans added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecuring U.S.\u2062 assets should have been among\u2063 the top priorities for the\u2064 U.S. Department of Defense prior to \u200cannouncing the withdrawal\u200c from Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> In the event that U.S.-made firearms do end up in\u200b the wrong hands, what accountability measures are in place to hold the Pentagon responsible for the improper handling of these weapons<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Democracy&#8217;\u2064 in the Wrong Hands: Republicans Demand Answers from Pentagon<\/p>\n<p>In recent reports that have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kidnapped-american-nurse-in-haiti-freed-from-captivity\/\" title=\"American nurse kidnapped in Haiti has been released.\">caused great concern<\/a>, it\u200d has been revealed that advanced U.S.-made\u2063 firearms have\u200d ended up in the possession of the\u200c Hamas terror group in Gaza. As a result, several House Oversight Committee Republicans \u200dare demanding answers\u2062 from the Pentagon regarding what measures are being taken to ensure that American-made weapons do not \u200bfall \u200binto the wrong \u2063hands.<\/p>\n<p>House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer \u200b(R-Ky.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have penned a letter to\u2064 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, expressing their alarm at the redistribution and resale of U.S.-manufactured weapons in secondary markets to terrorist organizations, including Hamas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>being used by the Hamas terror group in Gaza. House Oversight Committee Republicans are seeking answers from the Pentagon on measures taken to prevent American-made firearms from falling into the wrong hands. Ensuring the accountability of U.S.-manufactured weapons is crucial to prevent their misuse and maintain national security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":2077234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2077233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2077233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2077234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2077233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2077233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2077233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}