Military to destroy/leave $36 BILLION in equipment in Afghanistan

[yqtszhj]

Put me down for a surplus humvee.

[aray]

The problem with leaving it in place is that it is a huge intelligence bonanza for the other side. They get to see the abilities, performance limitations, vulnerabilities, etc. How to hide from and defeat US weapon systems is a high priority for foreign intelligence agencies. They also get to clone the technology and manufacturing techniques for their own uses. Hundreds of millions of dollars of R&D for weapons systems are compromised overnight.

And as for destroying - I bet the Obama Administration won't do that either, re: cost, environmental impact, etc.

And this isn't like Vietnam either. You just can't push it over the side of a carrier to be lost to the deep forever. Afghanistan is land-locked. You bring it back, put it somewhere else, or it stays on the ground there.

Sadly I think they'll just turn them over to the current government, where a portion will be given/stolen by foreign governments for intel purposes, some will wind up in the hands of terrorists where another portion will be used against us or our friends, and of course a few will be put in service by the Karzai Administration - until that government falls to the Taliban eventually once we've completely pulled out. Take it to the bank.

[O'Dell]

And this isn't like Vietnam either. You just can't push it over the side of a carrier to be lost to the deep forever. Afghanistan is land-locked. You bring it back, put it somewhere else, or it stays on the ground there.

That happened to me or rather to my jet in 1968. An SA-2 detonated behind me when I went into a zone 5 climb to avoid it. I lost an engine, some hydraulics, and almost my radar operator, but made it back to the boat. They removed the good engine, some other parts, and pushed the rest over the side.

As for the rest of your post,sadly, you're probably 100% correct.