DISINFO: The US left behind $85 billion worth of weapons in Afghanistan
SUMMARY
The US left behind $85 billion worth of weapons in Afghanistan.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan aimed at discrediting US and NATO policies in Afghanistan and on a global level.
The article’s claim that the US has left $85 billion worth of weapons and armaments in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American troops from the country in August 2021 is false.
As pointed out by a Washington Post fact check, the $85 or $83 billion figure (another number spread on social media) comes from an estimate in the July 30 quarterly report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and refers to total US spending to train and equip Afghanistan’s military forces over a span of 20 years. The majority of this money was spent on items other than military equipment, such as salaries and training. According to expert estimates, only about $20 to $24 billion of this money went to military equipment.
Moreover, General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. of the US Central Command confirmed that the United States has taken away, rendered unusable or destroyed a significant portion of the armaments used in Afghanistan and that some of what remained on the ground left by the Afghan army was already out of use, unusable for various reasons, obsolete or awaiting revisions.
Further debunking of this disinformation narrative can be viewed here and here.
Read similar cases claiming that Leaving Afghanistan, the US military shot at the crowd of Afghans, killing children and that The US seeded chaos in Afghanistan to undermine China and Russia.