# Western army supplies turning up in Afghan bazaars



## GAP (18 Mar 2007)

Western army supplies turning up in Afghan bazaars
Sunday March 18, 2007 (0230 PST)

Article Link

KABUL: Packets of ready-made omlettes, catering-size bottles of American sauces, even alcohol and pork forbidden in Islam -- items somehow pilfered from foreign military bases or internationals-only stores are making an appearance in Kabul markets. 

Shelves of the small shops in Bush Market, near the dirty stream that the Kabul River has become, are packed with jumbo-sized containers of products that are sometimes unfamiliar to the shopkeepers and jar with their surroundings. 

Pink bottles of sun cream stand near gleaming cans of antiseptic aerosol; there are Christmas stockings, bagels, horseradish and tins and tins of Quaker Oats. 

"Pork?" a shopkeeper asks a foreigner in a sly whisper, gesturing to a soggy box on the dirty pavement. 

Another asks for help in identifying packets of thawing meat which turn out to be Bratwurst and veal, according to small labels written in English. 

Disassembled military MREs -- Meals Ready to Eat for troops in the field -- are sorted into boxes near packets of crab sticks and huge blocks of Dutch chocolate. 

In one dim store hangs an old copy of Cosmopolitan magazine, its risque cover turned to the wall; elsewhere issues of army publication Freedom Watch are tossed on the floor and military ID pouches dangle in a window. 

A shopkeeper standing next to a pile of canteen-style mealtrays is asked where the items come from. "Frankly, they are stolen," he says with a shrug and a grin. 

Another trader, Mohammed Najib, adds: "They are smuggled out (of the military bases) by laundry workers, kitchen workers. Or food is given away when they don't need it, like expired stuff. And stuff that is left in the garbage, the workers bring out." 

Sometimes goods are "gifted" to workers after they have offloaded trucks at the military stores, another says. 

"We are not stealing -- we buy it from someone," he says. 

Western beauty and health products are favoured over available Chinese and Pakistani versions because they are considered better quality, Najib says. Foreigners and returned exiles are among his customers. 


More on link


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## TN2IC (18 Mar 2007)

Same story.. different part of the world.


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## Long in the tooth (18 Mar 2007)

I hope no one is surprised by this, Sgt Bilko is not fiction!  In the mideast I had to dispose of some equipment that was supposedly sub standard and becoming too expensive to store.  I just placed it beside the dumpster (still in original wrapping) and let the local workers have at 'er.  Problem solved.


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## KevinB (18 Mar 2007)

Yeah but these guys could give lessons to pirahna...

  I saw a two set of MBITR's and a tons of ICOM's in one shop outside of Bagram...
Mind you I picked up a few "good deals" myself - logic being - it was already stolen -- I was just reinvesting it in the War on terror


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## proudnurse (18 Mar 2007)

This story actually reminds me, of something I heard in the news a couple years ago. I did manage to find an old news story online, about dog tags being sold by street vendors in Vietnam. The article is quite extensive, so you have to scroll down to read the whole thing. There is also web link near the bottom of the page, in blue writing, and in clicking on that I found that it is a site that was set up to try and get these tags returned to the families. 

The source of the webpage is Chicago's Daily Herald and the link is as follows

Date of article is Aug 6, 2001

http://www.topvietnamveterans.org/daily-herald.html


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## 1feral1 (19 Mar 2007)

Here from what I have seen is basically nothing. Markets are full of substandard crap and/or a copy of a copy of a Chinese copy, which means its broken as soon as you look at it. hence, we all stay away from crap, ha!

Fake Gerbers and Leathermans, sub-standard shoulder hoslsters and pouches, but there is old Iraqi Army helmets, patches, even various AK bayonets. I picked up nice Iranian G3 bayonet from the 80-88 war, well used, but with frog with name on it, so that was $20US and a good find. Iraqi medals, old Saddam money, etc. Plus the traditional arab dress and cheap souvenirs etc too. 

Tonnes of pirated DVDs of course, including the movie '300', letters from iwo Jima, etc. You name it they've got it. Box sets of TV series etc too.

I have not seen any Allied kit or food ever.

As for our garbage, we give them nothing. We burn or shread everything, and the only thing that goes out is wet food left overs, and carboard rat pack boxes. The locals pick through it as if they are treasure hunting, even whe it was 55C - eeewww, the stench  ;D.

Any scrap metal is sent out the our supply system, backloaded further back. We even cut up electrical wiring to 4 inch lengths, so the bastards can't use it for bomb making.

Again, we give them nothing. Thats how it has to be.


Regards from a now VERY serious 'short' person. How short, today I have to look up to see down (and loving it), ha!

Wes (soon to be by the pool)


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## armyvern (19 Mar 2007)

Really,

There is not much of a story here. You can also by "Rolex"  : watchs in the souks and markets. Much of the 'western' items are copied crap.

Our garbage, is someone else's lifeline; especially in worn torn or third world nations. This is standard fare on any tour. This is why it is stresssed in-theatre to ensure that what you DO throw in the trash is exactly that...trash and that nothing OPSEC or PERSEC makes it into the trash.

I remember driving a truck load of "garbage" out to a dump once on a tour. As soon as I entered into the compound there were people jumping onto the vehicle. By the time we pulled up to the disposal pit and jumped out to empty the back of the truck...the locals had done it for us. They didn't seem to mind the fact we were travelling at 50km/hr when they climbed on board, nor the fact that we would have been stopped in 300 feet.


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## Yrys (19 Mar 2007)

(hijack, I think)



			
				The Librarian said:
			
		

> Our garbage, is someone else's lifeline;



Appart things like electrical wired that Wes says has to be cut, couldn't a part of the trash be given
 as a procedure ? may be easier to do there by Army then here in Canada.

Working in a grocery store, I'm often sicken by was is going to the garbage instead of the poor.
The  bakery department has an understanding with a shelter. They come every 2 days to pick up
old bread . The only thing that we (in the deli ) would have to do to give it to the shelter is walk 
2 f***ing feet to put the things in the basket of the bakery dep. Everything is keep in a big freezer.
But the answer I get from every manager (they change, so I tried each time) is no.

... and don't get me start with the glasses (lunettes) at Costco that are destroy just to be sure no one is picking one!


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## KevinB (19 Mar 2007)

Wes, etc.
Outside of the IZ and into areas where you, I and BigRed (well he might but he's crazy  ) venture out there are reems of stolen/captured etc coalition shit.
 In Afghan the "hadji" markets where offlimits to coalition troops - except certain SOF's and contractors -- as such it was a verifiable treasure trove of ill gotten gains.
Several board members here managed some very fine deals on REAL kit.
  BigRed has been here longer than I -- but in dealing with locals -- if you really want a PVS-14 and PEQ-2A -- they can get them...


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## 1feral1 (19 Mar 2007)

Infidel-6 said:
			
		

> Wes, etc.
> Outside of the IZ and into areas where you, I and BigRed (well he might but he's crazy  )



Speaking of BigRed, well, he and an Aussie mate came by for a visit a few days back, shared some Cokes here in the FOB, and I did a bit of work  ;D for him.

I am too way too short to help out now (way way way way way and bloody way too short) hopelfully he can be assisted with other local US or Allied talent.

Cheers,

Wes


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## geo (19 Mar 2007)

If anyone has ever visited Cairo, they will have seen garbage picking developed into an art (?).... Ugh!  These guys pick at the garbage of other garbage pickers.  By north american & Euro / aussie standards, it'll turn your stomach but... they will survive, by hook & by crook


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## Ex-Dragoon (19 Mar 2007)

Infidel-6 said:
			
		

> Wes, etc.
> Outside of the IZ and into areas where you, I and BigRed (well he might but he's crazy  ) venture out there are reems of stolen/captured etc coalition crap.
> In Afghan the "hadji" markets where offlimits to coalition troops - except certain SOF's and contractors -- as such it was a verifiable treasure trove of ill gotten gains.
> Several board members here managed some very fine deals on REAL kit.
> BigRed has been here longer than I -- but in dealing with locals -- if you really want a PVS-14 and PEQ-2A -- they can get them...



Kev,
  Would you not be worried your money might be used to help support the insurgency or the equipment you mentioned might be off of dead troops? Believe me I am not accusing you or any others of wrong doing of any sort, just curious all and all.


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## Donut (19 Mar 2007)

Geo, when I was in Cairo "Garbage City" had a population of, IIRC, about 30,000 plus.  The "City of the Dead", i.e. the city cemetary, was similarly crowded (both above and below ground  8))

La plus ca change...

DF


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## KevinB (19 Mar 2007)

Ex-Dragoon said:
			
		

> Kev,
> Would you not be worried your money might be used to help support the insurgency or the equipment you mentioned might be off of dead troops? Believe me I am not accusing you or any others of wrong doing of any sort, just curious all and all.



Remember I'm the guy that got sent up in the mountains to buy guns off people...   UN DDR my ass  

My guess from the stolen stuff - is that its the locals who pick a site clean -- most insurgents that take captured weapons are not likley to sell them -- but keep tham as western weapons etc. give you better status.
  
I did my bit for democracy and ratted out the MBITR guy -- and I picked up a 3X magnified for the PVS-14 MNVG out of my pocket and gave it to a deserving US SOF guy...


Back to the intial question -- when it all comes down to it, I'd rather them have my money - and I have their gun


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