US Gives Iraqis Gear It Needs in Afghanistan

Struggling US commanders in Afghanistan urgently need passenger vehicles and generators—the very same items their counterparts in Iraq are leaving behind as hand-me-downs for the Iraqis. As the military scales back its presence in Iraq, the Pentagon has raised the cap on equipment they're allowed to leave behind from $2 million to $30 million per base closing, angering hard-up commanders in the theater that has long played second fiddle to Iraq.

Army heads in Afghanistan tell the Washington Post their troops drive "broken-down, 15-year-old, right-hand-drive clunkers with bald tires" while troops in Iraq are sitting pretty in "new Yukons, Suburbans, Envoys and new pickups." US commanders in Iraq counter that it isn't cost-effective to ship used equipment to Afghanistan, and "an important and vital goal is to leave behind fully functioning bases to the government of Iraq to enable Iraq's civil capacities."