First appearance on Fox: Sen. Joni Ernst sent a letter demanding answers after a government report found the Department of Defense was sending 1980s-era body armor and equipment to Taiwan.
The Pentagon inspector general says the U.S. sent “wet and moldy bulletproof vests” to Taiwan to shore up defenses ahead of an impending invasion from China, and spent an additional $730,000 to right the mistake. I discovered that.
“Delivering obsolete and damaged military equipment to Taiwan is no way to entertain our friends,” said Ernst, the No. 4 Senate Republican. has become a tenet of Biden-Harris foreign policy.” said in a statement.
“Make no mistake, the Chinese government is mocking and taking full advantage of the current regime's leadership failures. We are working to restore trust in our allies and partners while instilling fear in our adversaries. , we need to bring capacity and strength back to the White House.”
China conducts live-fire training near Taiwan, showing off military force again
More than 340 of 504 pallets of equipment stored at Travis Air Force Base in California sustained water damage. The US military did not expedite delivery for two months after receiving the equipment.
The report said the base lacked proper storage facilities and the pallets were exposed to blowing rain, fog, moisture and heat.
Of the 340 pallets, 120 were sent to Taiwan, containing more than 3,000 moldy bulletproof vests and more than 500 wet, moldy tactical vests.
The inspector general's office observed that the pallets had “visible mold spores and were wrapped in plastic, which trapped moisture, promoting further deterioration and mold growth.”
Images of moldy equipment provided to Taiwan were provided by the American Institute in Taiwan through a September 2024 Department of Defense Inspector General report.
The report said Taiwanese authorities spent several weeks deflating the device.
U.S. military officials told the Office of the Inspector General that they spent $619,000 in labor and materials to clean and dry the wet, moldy armor that had been left undelivered at the base, and that they had to spend an additional $619,000 in labor and materials to clean and dry the wet, moldy armor that had been left undelivered at the base. He said he spent $113,000 replacing the department's equipment.
The Department of Defense Inspector General has confirmed that between November 2023 and March 2024, the Department of Defense will continue to make deliveries of equipment through the Presidential Reserve Authority, which allows the United States to send equipment from current DoD inventories. It concluded that the relevant guidelines had not been followed.
“Had policy been followed, the Department of Defense could have provided Taiwan with military equipment in acceptable condition,” Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement. “Instead, the equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy. Such performance risks undermining Taiwan's confidence in the United States as a reliable source of aid.”
Ernst noted that the Trump administration approved fighter jets for Taiwan in 2019, but none have yet been delivered.
“During World War II, the U.S. military had less time to plan, initiate, and execute the liberation of Europe from the Nazis,” Ernst said.
After two years of delays, Taiwan finally received a promised shipment of anti-tank weapons from the United States in July. However, the anti-tank missile launcher arrived without a suitable missile on board. The missiles Taiwan was forced to use were less accurate, causing them to reconsider their use in combat.
The damaged equipment is part of a $345 million plan announced by the Biden administration in July 2023, the first funding cut the United States has committed to Taiwan.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) speaks with reporters after the Senate Republicans' weekly policy luncheon at the Capitol on March 6, 2024 in Washington. (Reuters/Bonnie Cash)
Image of gun arriving in box and unwrapped. Provided by the American Institute in Taiwan through the Department of Defense Inspector General's Report (September 2024).
Taiwan siege was a smokescreen for China's real goal of persuading the US not to intervene, experts say
The report found there was a breakdown in communication over who was responsible for arranging delivery flights to Taiwan, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is tasked with providing equipment to U.S. allies, It recommended that standard procedures be developed to clarify responsibilities, deadlines, and content. Quality control check upon delivery.
As of May 31, 2024, the United States had not replaced damaged body armor and tactical vests that had not arrived.
The report also found that the shipment contained approximately 2.7 million rounds of ammunition manufactured in 1983. Some of the ammunition was “poorly packaged” and others had expired, the inspector general said.
Some of the bullets arrived in unopened boxes, giving Taiwanese officials the appearance that U.S. military personnel had “cleaned up unnecessary items.”
The report said the six M240B machine guns from the Clovis, New Mexico National Guard were thrown into a cardboard box without any packaging.
Mr. Ernst asked for answers about what steps had been taken to clarify responsibility for removing such shipments, strengthen monitoring, and expedite the replacement of damaged equipment. She also asked what the source of the $730,000 used to resolve the issue was.
The report warned that this mistake jeopardizes Taiwan's trust in the United States at a critical time when China could threaten to invade at any moment.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
China announced Tuesday it would conduct a live-fire training exercise in the Taiwan Strait, further escalating tensions that have reached a fever pitch since the re-election of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, as voters continue to support mainland Chinese resistance. It is an expression.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Cho Zheng-tai said Tuesday that the planned drills on the island, about 160 miles from Taipei, risked causing “unnecessary tensions.”
“No matter how large-scale the drills are, we should not conduct them frequently in close proximity to Taiwan,” he told reporters. That will only create unnecessary tension.
