The New York Times has a bombshell of a report out today that alleges arms sent to Syrian rebels by the CIA and Saudi Arabia via Jordan have been “systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market,” possibly resulting in the death of two Americans:
This is like Middle East version of Fast and Furious. @CIA Arms for Syrian Rebels hit Black Market https://t.co/nlMD74YjQu @MarkMazzettiNYT
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) June 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/barryeisler/status/747191477990629376
CIA arms for Syrian rebels stolen, sold on black market, possibly used to kill Americans, @nytimes rpts: https://t.co/8cO0L4Gqa4
— Mark Albert (@malbertnews) June 26, 2016
Our allies, indeed:
Our allies: Jordanian intel officials sold CIA & Saudi weapons intended for Syria rebels to buy SUVs and iPhones https://t.co/xMyXihj0NO
— Borzou Daragahi ?? (@borzou) June 26, 2016
From the NYT:
AMMAN, Jordan — Weapons shipped into Jordan by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia intended for Syrian rebels have been systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, according to American and Jordanian officials.
Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two Americans and three others at a police training facility in Amman, F.B.I. officials believe after months of investigating the attack, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The existence of the weapons theft, which ended only months ago after complaints by the American and Saudi governments, is being reported for the first time after a joint investigation by The New York Times and Al Jazeera. The theft, involving millions of dollars of weapons, highlights the messy, unplanned consequences of programs to arm and train rebels — the kind of program the C.I.A. and Pentagon have conducted for decades — even after the Obama administration had hoped to keep the training program in Jordan under tight control.
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