Chinooks still in their shed

"The Ministry of Defence has been accused of a "gold standard cock-up" over eight helicopters which have cost £422m but have yet to fly for the RAF.

Mr Leigh, NAO, strongly condemning the MoD's handling of the whole affair, saying: 'The Ministry of Defence's programme to make airworthy the eight Chinook Mk3 helicopters, which it acquired in 2001 for special operations work, has been a gold standard cock-up. Nearly seven years since they were delivered, the Chinook Mk3s are still languishing in climate-controlled hangers - despite the fact that they are desperately needed on operations in Afghanistan.'"

Only a government can waste money on this scale. Anyone with half a brain would send dodgy goods back to the suppliers. British Government says, "its all right, will shove 'em in a hanger for seven years in the hope no one will notice".

BBC NEWS | UK | MoD accused of Chinook 'cock-up'

Technorati tags: military helicopter Chiook government incompetent money waste

"190,000 weapons 'missing in Iraq'
The US military cannot account for 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to the Iraqi security forces, an official US report says. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Pentagon cannot track about 30% of the weapons distributed in Iraq over the past three years."

As the old saying goes "to mislay one weapon is unfortunate - to mislay 190,000 is pretty chuffin stupid".

"Meanwhile, at the end of July, the US Defence Department admitted that the US-led coalition in Iraq had failed to deliver nearly two-thirds of the equipment it promised to Iraq's army. The Pentagon said only 14.5m of the nearly 40m items of equipment ordered by the Iraqi army had been provided."

I'll give you a hint guys - leave them in the cupboard.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | 190,000 weapons 'missing in Iraq'

Technorati tags: Iraq military Pentagon weapons