GOP senator demands answers after Pentagon finds Army gave Taiwan moldy gear, ammo from 1983

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst despatched a letter demanding answers after a authorities report discovered the Defense Department (DOD) despatched physique armor lined in mildew and tools from the Nineteen Eighties to Taiwan. 

The Pentagon inspector common discovered the U.S. had despatched “wet and moldy body armor” to Taiwan to shore up its defenses forward of an impending invasion from China, then spent a further $730,000 making an attempt to treatment the error. 

“Delivering outdated and damaged military equipment to Taiwan is no way to treat a friend. Unfortunately, undercutting our partners and emboldening adversaries has become a staple of the Biden-Harris foreign policy doctrine,” Ernst, the fourth-ranking Republican within the Senate, mentioned in a press release.

“Make no mistake, Beijing is laughing at, and taking full advantage of, the leadership failures of this administration. We need to bring back competency and strength in the White House to restore trust in our allies and partners while striking fear in our adversaries.”

CHINA HOLDS LIVE-FIRE DRILLS NEAR TAIWAN, IN ANOTHER SHOW OF FORCE

More than 340 out of 504 pallets of apparatus sustained water injury as they sat at Travis Air Force Base in California. The U.S. Army didn’t facilitate supply for 2 months after receiving the tools.  

The base didn’t have correct storage services, in keeping with the report, and the pallets have been uncovered to blowing rain, fog, humidity and warmth. 

Of the 340 pallets, 120 have been despatched to Taiwan containing greater than 3,000 mildewed physique armor plates and 500 moist and moldy tactical vests. 

The inspector common’s workplace noticed the pallets had “visible mold spores, wrapped in plastic that had trapped water, facilitating further deterioration and mold growth.”

Images of moldy tools given to Taiwan supplied by the American Institute in Taiwan by way of a Defense Department Inspector General’s report September 2024.

Taiwan authorities spent weeks making an attempt to air out the gear, in keeping with the report. 

U.S. personnel informed the inspector common’s workplace they spent $619,000 in labor and supplies on the base to scrub and dry the moist, moldy armor that had not been despatched and one other $113,000 to interchange a few of the tools earlier than it was despatched to Taiwan. 

The DOD inspector common concluded that between November 2023 and March 2024 the Pentagon didn’t comply with pointers on delivering the tools by means of the presidential drawdown authority, which permits the U.S. to ship tools from present DOD shares. 

“Had policies been followed, the Defense Department would have been able to provide Taiwan with military equipment in acceptable condition,” Inspector General Robert Storch mentioned in a press release. “Instead, the equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy. Such performance risks eroding Taiwan’s confidence in the United States as a reliable source of assistance.”  

Ernst famous the Trump administration permitted fighter jets for Taiwan in 2019 that also haven’t been delivered. 

“It took U.S. armed forces less time to plan, launch, and execute the liberation of Europe from the Nazis in World War II,” Ernst mentioned. 

After a two-year delay, Taiwan in July lastly acquired the U.S. cargo of anti-tank weapons it had been promised. But the anti-tank missile launchers arrived with out the right missiles. The missiles Taiwan was pressured to make use of with them had a low accuracy, prompting it to rethink their fight use. 

The broken tools was a part of a $345 million bundle the Biden administration introduced in July 2023, the primary drawdown the U.S. had dedicated to Taiwan. 

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks with reporters after the Senate Republicans’ weekly coverage lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington March 6, 2024. (Reuters/Bonnie Cash)

Images of weapons arriving unwrapped in packing containers supplied by The American Institute in Taiwan by way of Defense Dept. Inspector General’s report, September 2024 

ENCIRCLING TAIWAN WAS A SMOKESCREEN FOR CHINA’S REAL GOAL OF CONVINCING US NOT TO INTERVENE, EXPERT SAYS 

The report decided there had been a breakdown in communication about whose duty it was to rearrange the supply flights to Taiwan and beneficial the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, tasked with offering tools to U.S. allies, give you a normal process that clarifies obligations, timelines and high quality management checks for deliveries. 

As of May 31, 2024, the U.S. had not changed the broken physique armor plates and tactical vests that had not arrived. 

The report additionally discovered the cargo contained some 2.7 million rounds of ammunition that have been manufactured in 1983. Some of the rounds have been “poorly packaged,” whereas others have been expired, the inspector common discovered. 

Some of the rounds arrived in opened packing containers, making it appear to Taiwanese officers that U.S. service members “cleared out stuff they didn’t want.”

Six M240B machine weapons from the National Guard in Clovis, New Mexico, included within the cargo have been dumped into cardboard packing containers with none wrapping, in keeping with the report. 

Ernst demanded answers on what steps have been taken to make clear whose duty it was to get out such shipments, to enhance oversight and to expedite alternative of the broken tools. She additionally requested what the funding supply was for the $730,000 used to repair the difficulty. 

The report warned the error risked Taiwan’s confidence within the U.S. at a crucial time when China threatens to invade at any second. 

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China mentioned it will perform reside fireplace drills within the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, ratcheting up tensions which have reached a fever pitch because the re-election of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, an indication that voters proceed to help resisting mainland China. 

Taiwan’s premier, Cho Jung-tai, mentioned Tuesday the drills, deliberate for an island about 100 miles from Taipei, risked “unnecessary tension.”

“No matter how large the scale of the drill is, they should not be frequent and close to Taiwan,” he informed reporters. “This will only cause unnecessary tension.”