Americas Secret Cache of Warsaw Pact Weapons

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/22/us-soviet-air-defense-ukraine/

Though largely unknown to most of the American public, the US began to purchase large quantities of Warsaw Pact weaponry in the 1970's and would continue to do so until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet alliance. It is therefore not too surprising that some of the weapons are now being funneled into Ukraine where they will be able to integrate easily enough with the extant arms in Kyiv's possession.

The sources were diverse. After the Camp David Accords and Anwar Sadat's reorientation, Egypt began to purchase Western arms. The US was happy to buy up their Soviet arsenal. The Israelis also had a considerable stockpile of captured weapons from the Yom Kippur War.

The Washington Post reported in 1994 that Poland acted as a liaison for Warsaw Pact sales – the US had formed inroads into Poland via Solidarity and the Roman Catholic Church. Large quantities of weapons were purchased from Czechoslovakia and Romania which under Ceaușescu's leadership had fallen into near pariah status vis-à-vis Moscow. Bucharest was happy to deliver the weapons and generate income for Romania's ailing economy.

The US wanted these weapons for its proxy wars but in particular for the operation in Afghanistan. Only when the war was in an advanced stage and there was little fear of repercussions from Moscow, did the US start sending American made arms such as the Stinger missiles. Previous to this they attempted to hide their fingerprints and flooded the country with Warsaw Pact weaponry which could have ostensibly been captured from the Moscow-backed Afghan army or actual Soviet troops.

There's no way all the weapons were used and so I wasn't surprised to learn that the US still has significant quantities of these arms on ice – stored away in the archipelago of warehouses owned by the Department of Defense. I saw a glimpse of this during my time in Europe as I've reported elsewhere. And yet clearly this was just the tip of the iceberg.

And so now what remains of these weapons will find use in Ukraine and perhaps in other nations on the Russian periphery. In this case, the US isn't trying to hide its fingerprints. It's simply a question of logistics and compatibility. Troops won't need to be re-trained and the stores will match up (for the most part) with existing equipment they already have.

Some might look back and argue that such purchases were clever and exhibited foresight. Others may question the ethics of backing Warsaw Pact regimes and dictatorships. But as is always the case, Washington has little problem with dictatorship as long as these forces are willing to ally with the US or at the very least are willing to oppose America's greater enemy. It's a cynical policy and lacking principle but this is the nature of war, intelligence, and strategic planning. There are no morals. The only people who are fooled are those who continue to argue that some kind of moral code is followed or is somehow applicable. On the contrary, those with a moral code and those who insist on living according to principle always have a clear choice. Have nothing to do with these deeds or the dreams of the evil men who pursue them.