Responding to a reporter’s question over the fate of billions of dollars of weaponry that the U.S. gave Afghanistan, National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration does not have “a complete picture”, a euphemism for most of the weapons are lost, adding that a “fair amount” of the weapons that the US gave to Afghanistan are in the possession of the Taliban, and they don’t expect they will be returned to the US.
“We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport.”
What happens to the billions of dollars of weaponry that the U.S. gave Afghanistan?
Sullivan: “We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone. But certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.” pic.twitter.com/umVx92iZPY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 17, 2021
Zero Hedge noted: perhaps more shocking was Sullivan’s revelation that Biden – whose vacation was unceremoniously interrupted when the US embassy had to be evacuated on short notice when the Taliban took over – still hasn’t spoken with any of his foreign counterparts since Kabul fell.
But Biden has left the calls to foreign allies to those on his team.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says President Biden has not spoken to any world leaders since the fall of Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/Dc3rCdfZnq
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 17, 2021
“Myself, Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken, several other senior members of the team are engaged on a regular basis with foreign counterparts and we intend to do so in the coming days,” Sullivan said.
“Right now, the main issue is an operational issue,” he added. “It’s about how we coordinate with them to help them get their people out and we are operating through logistic channels and policy channels to make that happen.”
